Three Depression-era murals at Harlem Hospital and the 22-foot bronze sculpture above its Lenox Avenue entrance have been restored. NYC Health + Hospitals' Arts in Medicine department announced on Oct. 14 that conservation is complete on the Federal Art Project murals by Charles Alston and Vertis Hayes in the hospital's Mural Pavilion and on John Rhoden's The Family.

The murals

The works were made under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project, at a time when Black artists pressed for and won access to major public commissions. Charles Alston supervised the Harlem Hospital mural project, leading a staff of 35 artists and assistants, and was the first African American supervisor in the Federal Art Project. He painted two companion murals, Magic in Medicine and Modern Medicine (both 1940), which set traditional healing practices from several cultures beside modern medical science and show a racially integrated hospital staff.

Vertis Hayes painted Pursuit of Happiness (1937), which spans about 800 square feet across eight panels and follows African American history from ancestral African villages to professional and cultural achievement in the 20th century. Hayes was 25 when he became a master artist on the project.

Foreground Conservation & Decorative Arts did the work on site over two weeks earlier this year, funded through Bloomberg Philanthropies' 2025 support of the Arts in Medicine department.

The Family

John Rhoden's bronze rises 22 feet over the hospital entrance at 506 Lenox Avenue. It shows a family held up by hands that appear to reach out of the building, supported by the Rod of Asclepius, the ancient symbol of medicine. Commissioned in 1967 and unveiled in 1968, it had weathered for nearly 60 years. Tatti Art Conservation treated it in spring 2026, evening out the surface tones while keeping the patina underneath. The Family is one of three sculptures Rhoden made for the city's public hospitals between 1966 and 1970, with Mitochondria at Bellevue and Monumental Abstraction at Metropolitan Hospital.

A collection of 8,000 works

The public hospital system's art collection dates to the 1930s and now holds more than 8,000 works, including pieces by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Helen Frankenthaler, Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder and Keith Haring.

How to see them

The Family is visible from the street at Lenox Avenue and West 135th Street, by the 135 Street station on the 2 and 3 trains. The murals and other works in the collection can also be explored on the NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine guide in the free Bloomberg Connects app.

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