We recently connected with Gayle Mangan Kassal and have shared our conversation below.

Gayle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Every project is meaningful, especially the murals I paint for children’s hospitals. They all bring joy to so many, creating a welcoming and soothing environment for the medical staff and patients. I love designing narratives that add a touch of whimsy and make you smile. If I had to choose, I would say my most heartwarming project was the 9/11 memorial mural for the Hanson Family at Boston Medical Center.

On September 11, 2001, Peter and Sue Kim Hanson left their Massachusetts home and boarded Flight 175 with their daughter Christine Lee Hanson. The family was on their way to California for a trip to Disneyland and to visit family. It was Christine’s first time on an airplane. As we all know America was forever changed that tragic day. Two years later, Peter Hanson’s parents contacted me to create a mural for Boston Medical Center’s Pediatric Treatment Room to be dedicated to their son, wife and granddaughter on flight 175. I was honored beyond words and began creating “Christine’s World”, a world through the eyes of a child. I designed a mural filled with little Christine’s love for nature, bugs, flowers, butterflies, games, reading and smiles. Her father’s love for the Boston Celtics inspired my idea to have bugs playing basketball wearing cool sneakers. Especially, the “green” grasshopper slam dunking the ball into a calla lily. Christine’s mother, Sue Kim, was a medical student at the center so with her in mind, I focused on creating tools aiding staff or a care giver to help ease a child’s anxiety during treatments. I decided to create a fun world of seek and find with lady bugs skateboarding, butterflies playing jump rope and hidden creatures throughout the mural. Years later, I spoke with several nurses and doctors who shared their experience with the mural. They were all delighted with the helpful results and the smiles they received instead of tears which made their work more enjoyable. Each year, I am reminded of what a gift this was to create and the positive message it shared. I am forever grateful to the Hansons who guided this project, sharing with countless families the beauty of their own family.

One other memorable mural is the pediatric trauma and burn unit at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The local DC Fire Fighters Burn Foundation commissioned me to create a mural 9 ft tall and 26 ft wide for their treatment room. The challenge was that the room was dominated by a large bean-shaped steel tub in which children soaked while undergoing life-saving treatment for burns. The project’s goal was to incorporate the tub into the mural in a way to have it appear as part of a playful underwater reef. The patients needed a sense of soothing comfort with the natural sense of water and ultimately a healthy distraction. I strategically painted bright and friendly clown fish, sea stars, and seahorses around the tub to ease the patients anxiety as they enter the room. There’s a blue crab in a fireman’s hat, a sting ray peeking through colorful coral, and my favorite a mother-and-child pair of loggerhead turtles swimming fin-in-fin. These turtles came directly from my own experience and happened purely by chance.  I was sketching a turtle and did not like where it was placed so I redrew it. A faint image still remained and I realized it looked like a baby turtle holding it’s mother’s fin. Even though I know turtles never meet their mothers, I loved the idea and painted it into the mural. Ironically, I was bringing my son to preschool for the first time a week later, so it had significant meaning and brings a smile to my face every time I think of this mural. As with each creature I painted, I represented a family member or a friend. They all have their own animated personality even my 95-year-old grandmother became an angelfish with her sweet expression. Then a dear friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful little girl while I was painting this mural so incorporated her as a sweet sleeping seahorse, connected to her sister, the other seahorse.  They both are embracing red coral, which helped me camouflage the copper pipes from the electrical box near the tub. There, I also hid smaller crabs to add to the “i-spy” game idea in this project. One nurse told me “The treatment room is used to change burn dressings, and this is one of the most painful and anxiety-ridden parts of our burn patients’ hospital stays. Having bright and cheerful murals on the walls provides the young patients with distraction during procedures and gives them something to look forward to.”

The entire mural was created on canvas in my studio over several months then installed in one day so as not to disrupt the on-going treatments in the center. Once the mural was in place, a child sitting in the therapeutic tub could easily imagine resting inside a huge, vibrant coral reef. It is incredibly satisfying transforming white clinical walls into a friendlier space, incorporating distraction therapies is an important part of the healing process, for the patients, their caregivers and the medical staff, as well as extremely rewarding for me to know the power of these paintings go beyond just a pretty mural.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a visual artist, muralist, pastelist, and educator, residing in Annapolis, Maryland with my two children and husband enjoying the Chesapeake Bay area. Originally from Connecticut, I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Salve Regina University in Rhode Island and a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a specialty in painting. During the years between undergraduate and graduate school, I traveled abroad as a yacht stewardess watching the world through a porthole, sketching scenes along the way. I had always hoped to return to school to pursue a career in painting and spent the years in-between saving up for my MFA. Luckily, the vessel I was working on required a short stay in Lisse, Netherlands. There, I spent the winter working and was awestruck by the burst of color in the spring at the Keukenhof gardens. The abundance of flowers and their incredible brilliant colors were breathtaking. The experience inspired me to follow my dream of obtaining an MFA at UMASS Dartmouth. There I continued to paint flowers… big flowers… six foot flower paintings in pastel and in oil. A local restaurant owner heard I painted large artwork so he asked if I could paint an eight foot eggplant for his new Italian restaurant. It seemed like the perfect request to me. I then painted three large canvases of vegetables, an eight foot eggplant, six foot carrots, onions, and mushrooms. When I installed the paintings, the space between each work was so stark white and plain. I asked if I could add some vegetables and vines on the walls to connect the canvases. My mural business was born! This led to incredible opportunities, painting murals for patients and staff at the local Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, Boston Medical Center, and eventually Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.. During those years, I was also an adjunct professor at UMass Dartmouth, Salve Regina University and eventually Anne Arundel Community College, when I moved to the Annapolis area in 2002.

In 2006, I embraced motherhood enjoying a new path, which led me to becoming a visiting artist. I began teaching mural workshops at primary schools throughout the county, painting legacy murals with hundreds of young artists. Many mural projects I create, focus on the importance of being environmental stewards for the delicate ecosystem that exists within our own backyard, the Chesapeake Bay.

Fast forward to 2023, as a breast cancer survivor (2022), I have taken my career full circle witnessing the importance of art in the medical establishments. Though my hair style has changed with cancer, my desire to paint has only strengthened. At least for me, painting has been an important part of my healing process. I’m thrilled to be painting full-time as a professional artist and visiting educator throughout Maryland public schools where I share my love of creating inspiring spaces, painting white walls into memorable moments!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Oh yes, my last mural project began as any other one would. A local elementary school wished to create a legacy mural project for their 3rd and 4th graders. We only planned to work on a portion of the full 60ft library wall with expectations to create other projects over the next few years. In the spring of 2022, I worked closely with their art teacher, to design a beautiful garden mural. Their bee mascot inspired the idea of painting a hive hidden in a book under the flowers. The lush garden provided plenty of interpretation allowing all the 284 students in the creative process working together as a community. After painting three weeks on moveable panels with the students, the mural was ready to be fine-tuned in my studio. That very week, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Shocked!! I had the questioning moment so many others experience: “Me? Really? Are you sure?” “Why? and What now?” Obviously, I needed to step away from the mural to focus on treatments. My world flipped upside down and expanded beyond my belief. I jumped on my mental surfboard, riding the ever changing wave with as much grace, positivity, resilience, and good humor as I could.

After a double mastectomy and chemotherapy treatments, I returned to my studio to slowly chip away at fine-tuning the school’s mural. My daughter and a high school art student helped me paint while I was receiving radiation treatment. Together, we fine-tuned each of the 532 flowers. The joy it brought me was beyond therapeutic and just what the doctor ordered! These sweet flowers, honeycomb and bees made me realized we all grew together and the idea of adding the words “Grow Together” to the mural came into being. Working as a team I felt stronger to complete the project. We played music, laughed, and had fun painting, which truly helped me regain strength. It is amazing how art and community support is magical for physical and mental healing. Thankfully, I was able to install the mural. The whole process widened my view towards writing a grant for the remaining 40ft wall. Cancer broadens your world in ways I did not know was possible. I am sure I would not have attempted applying for a grant before breast cancer, yet here I was writing the grant, applying, and still finishing radiation treatments. To my delight, my project was awarded the grant for the spring of 2023, thanks to the Maryland State Arts Council Public Art Grant.

The 20ft abundant garden expanded into incorporating the surrounding environment of the Chesapeake Bay. The final concept became “Read, Learn, Grow Together” to complete the full 60ft wall. The current 152 – 3rd grade students excitedly suggested we design a book as a boat with bees on an adventure, for the new 40ft section. I then added a surfing bee since it totally made sense after my year. We created a grand sunbeam entrance showing the library is full of bright ideas. Now cancer-free, I was beaming with every ray of light I painted. A few kindergarteners were so excited to spot my little creatures, they requested more “hidden surprises” and my “I-spy” theme continued. The entire project is now fully installed, painted by 484 students. It connected the community at large; the entire student body and their families, the staff, and the custodians. It was a monumental project, full of stories and meaningful moments, new friends and a bright horizon.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As I mentioned earlier, entering motherhood was a pivoting point in my career. It truly produced a new unplanned opportunity. When my children were in school, I was asked if I would create a mural with a local middle school students. Thanks to my family’s support, this led to several more projects including the one I just shared. I now visit local primary schools as an artist in residence, painting with hundreds of young artists. It’s such a joy transforming dull school walls into friendly inviting spaces while inspiring and empowering others. Every pivoting moment is riding a wave to see where it takes me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gaylemangankassal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gayle.mangan.kassal.art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GayleManganKassalArt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gayle-mangan-kassal-a3a46b30/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gaylemangankassal

Image Credits

©Jennifer Amendolara Photography (Gayle’s portrait)

©Gayle Mangan Kassal (all other images)