Public Employee Press

Mural Master
Local 420s artist transforms Woodhull Hospital with cityscape murals.

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Woodhull Hospital staff can lunch under the Brooklyn Bridge, or be inspired by a view of Paris' landmark Eiffel Tower or New York's own Empire State Building without leaving the basement of the Bed-Stuy medical center thanks to Housekeeping Aide and Local 420 shop steward Patrick Samuels.

"I had never done anything like this before, but I am pretty proud of how it turned out," said Samuels of his 20-foot long mural.

More comfortable with drawing portraits of superstars Stevie Wonder, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and King of Pop Michael Jackson, Samuels said he never painted on a wall before.

When Environmental Services Director Helena Blat showed him a small photo of the Eiffel Tower and asked, "Can you draw this?" the Local 420 member who coworkers affectionately call Obama confidently answered, "Yes, I can."

In two months Samuels completed the storage room makeover challenge, adding cityscape paintings to two walls in a newly created employees' lounge. He said, "I worked from small pictures and painted everything freehand."

Samuels gave the rundown, underused basement storage area on concourse 1B a first-class facelift. His murals lift hospital workers' spirits and break the mold of an otherwise impersonal institutionalized environment.

"It needed more," Samuels said of his skyline of architectural gems that include the Flatiron Building and Broadway's theater district. "So I added color-and the Brooklyn Bridge."

Samuels' artwork even won the nod of Woodhull's head administrator.

"It has that wow effect," said Samuels.

Morale booster

Under the cityscape are yellow checkered taxicabs numbered with stats that track HCAHPS scores, patient satisfaction survey results, and keep workers apprised of their quarterly progress and ratings. The art is a visible reminder - an incentive booster - that keeps everyone motivated to do their all to have Woodhull rank among the city's best hospitals.

As a teen, Samuels attended Art and Design High School for one year but "got distracted," he said. Still, his love for drawing never died.

A 16-year Health and Hospitals Corp. veteran, Samuels teased his passion by sketching sneakers until he hit on a fashion-forward athletic shoe line that he patented and named the President, which was inspired by President Barack Obama's historic run and two-term White House victory. Exotic cars are another muse for Samuels' shoes. His designs have impressed the likes of rapper Fabolous, a Bed-Stuy native, and former NBA pro baller Jerry Stackhouse.

"I've had interest from Foot Locker, and a nibble from a startup in Boston," Samuels said. But without a celebrity endorsement, Samuels said that it's hard to hook a shoe deal so his designs have not gone beyond a prototype, for now.

"Obama!" coworkers call out to greet the popular Samuels, who resembles the Commander-in-Chief. Known as much for his union activism and optimism as for his art, Samuels said, "I hope to do an outdoor mural here one day."

An HHC-commissioned mural by Samuels would be a welcome panacea to Woodhull Hospital's gentrifying urban neighborhood. As Picasso said, "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."