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The Rialto Jean Project Partners with
Children's Hospital Los Angeles to Provide Art Therapy to
Help Heal our Children
July 24th, 2013 (Los Angeles, CA) - Erin
Feniger, Designer and Co-Founder of The Rialto Jean Project
(RJP), announced today that the brand has partnered with
Children's Hospital Los Angeles to provide funding for the
hospital's art therapy program by establishing the Rialto
Jean Project Endowment for Art Therapy.
"This generous donation from The Rialto Jean
Project addresses a key priority here at Children's
Hospital; providing a creative outlet for our patients to
express their feelings in a way that empowers them to
benefit their health outcomes," says DeAnn Marshall, senior
vice president, chief development and marketing officer at
Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "We are incredibly thankful
for their gift and look forward to a partnership that will
help our sick kids get better."
The Rialto Jean Project benefits children
through art, working directly with hospitals and
organizations to support art therapy programs in Los
Angeles, with plans to expand across the United States as
well as internationally in the coming years. RJP stands
behind the proven theory that art can help young patients
find a sense of hope, increase self- esteem, autonomy and
competence, while offering opportunities to express their
feelings safely and providing a solid foundation for
healing.
Through the Rialto Jean Project Endowment for
Art Therapy, Children's Hospital Los Angeles will benefit
from additional resources to further the hospital's
longstanding work incorporating art therapy to aid the
healing process and benefit the lives of patients being
treated at the hospital.
In 1991, the hospital founded the Mark Taper
and Johnny Mercer Artists Program, a comprehensive,
innovative, multidisciplinary effort to apply visual arts,
music, dance and expressive art therapy to a pediatric
medical setting. By combining the dynamic energy of local
artists and performers with the specialized therapeutic
training of registered and certified art therapists, this
form of therapy helps patients and families express and
address their thoughts and feelings regarding illness and
hospitalization. In addition, art therapy programs have
played a proven role in the healing of patients by helping
alleviate pain, improving moods and accelerating recovery
time.
"Art therapy provides the opportunity for the
patient to be empowered and make choices about what they
want to share through their artwork," says Nicole Albers, a
Children's Hospital Art Therapist. "When I work with a
patient for the first time, I explain sometimes it's hard to
talk about what's going on in the hospital. There are a lot
of adults here making decisions about what is best for you.
Art Therapy gives you a way to express yourself in a
different way. You get to be in charge of what we do, and
you get to make all the choices."
Art therapy at Children's Hospital Los
Angeles is funded completely through philanthropic partners
such as RJP. The Rialto Jean Project Endowment Fund will not
only provide much-needed resources to aid the growth of art
therapy but also will bring attention to Children's
Hospital, ranked among the top five pediatric medical
facilities in the country.
"We are excited and thrilled to be able to
announce today our partnership with Children's Hospital Los
Angeles. Our mission at The Rialto Jean Project is 'Denim
Doing Good.' We at RJP work directly with hospitals and
organizations to bring needed art therapy to children around
the country. This is not just another fashion line with a
social conscious; for each pair of jeans that are created
and sold, the Rialto Jean Project will donate a portion of
the sale to programs that bring therapeutic art to children.
The focus of the endowment fund that has been
created with Children's Hospital is committed to enhancing
the art therapy program that impacts sick children's lives
in their coping and healing process. This is a project that
I hold dear to my heart. I feel so extremely fortunate to be
involved in a program so unique and leading edge and to be
part of something that is making a difference in the lives
of children and their healing. It is a truly inspiring and
touching place. Erin Feniger, Designer and Co-Founder
of the Rialto Jean Project.
The Rialto Jean Project is one of LA's
hottest new denim lines with A-list actors, musicians, and
models on the list of RJP's
large fan base. Because of the
philanthropic heart of LA's hippest brand, RJP receives rave
reviews from their celebrity followers and customers alike.
Giada De Laurentis recently wore a mommy and me version with
her daughter proclaiming to her slew of twitter followers
her love for the brand and all that it represents.
Each pair of RJP jean products is unique,
with hand-painted styles in every cut and shade of denim;
ranging from distressed to clean-cut, and available in a
rainbow of colors, and also for shorts and skirts. As the
line continues to grow, the mission remains the same: give
back to the art therapy community that inspired not only the
brand but also its co-founder and designer who suffers from
a rare autoimmune disease. The Rialto Jean Project is a
labor of love; it not only aims to heal others, but also
quite literally heals its own staff, all of whom share in
the passion and the belief in the power of imagination and
creativity.
The immediate goals of the RJP and Children's
Hospital Los Angeles partnership include
providing additional art therapy staff; giving isolated and
long-term patients an ability to communicate with others
through the use of Skype and Facetime on iPads; providing
MacBook Pro laptops for use in therapy sessions involving
graphic illustration and design, music composition and more;
and donating art supplies, Photoshop software, projectors
and video cameras to the hospital.
These contributions to the hospital's art
therapy program will help children express feelings they
might not otherwise be willing to share with words. By
creating their own images that depict their fears and
anxieties, patients can release some of those negative
feelings and focus on hope and optimism, benefitting their
recovery.
"It's not about making 'good art,'" Albers
says. "It's about expressing yourself through the art making
process. Sometimes, the 'ugliest' art can be the most
therapeutic because patients are sharing emotions they can't
describe with words."
Art therapy puts children in control of the
art they create. They are able to dictate the materials they
use, the images they produce and the way a piece of art
turns out. When life feels out of control for a hospitalized
child, having control over something they created from the
heart can be empowering. It is the goal of both the Rialto
Jean Project and Children's Hospital Los Angeles to continue
to bring a ray of sunshine into the lives of these brave and
deserving children by supporting a program that provides a
creative outlet of expression and comfort in a time of need.
About Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been
named the best children's hospital on the West Coast and
among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence
with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World
Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban
Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive
pediatric research facilities in the United States.
Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier
teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with
the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
California.
For more information, visit CHLA.org.
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or visit our blog:WeTreatKidsBetter.org.
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