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From engineer to artist: Long-time UNC Rex employee paints mural to brighten hospital

UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh has added new artwork to brighten up a courtyard. It began with an employee challenge to submit ideas for a large outdoor mural -- and ended with a long-term employee painting the mural by hand.

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By
Rick Armstrong
, WRAL Enterprise multimedia journalist
RALEIGH, N.C. — UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh has added new artwork to brighten up a courtyard. It began with an employee challenge to submit ideas for a large outdoor mural -- and ended with a long-term employee painting the mural by hand.

When the hospital asked employees to submit ideas for an outdoor mural, Jauslyn Stewart, who has worked for the hospital for 17 years, submitted an idea – and won.

"I told them I’m willing to not just submit the idea, but I will actually paint it for you," she said.

The hospital had originally planned to hire an outside artist to do the work, but it turned out a talented artist was already working there. She started as a housekeeper, going to school for bio-medical engineering on the side. She transitioned to fixing computers and other equipment with UNC Rex Healthcare.

Now, she can add another title to her resume: Muralist.

"My parents encouraged me to be an artist, and I wanted to be an engineer, so I did both," says Stewart. "So it kind of worked out here that there’s many positions and many things to do."

She has previously painted four other murals on separate projects, but never anything on the scale of the courtyard wall at UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh. She says the scale of the mural requires carefully considering perspective, so that people below can see it the same way others can from higher up.

The new challenge required getting over her fear of heights, as she would need to climb a tall scaffold in order to add an important element – a bear cub high up in a tree. Many locals remember when the baby bear, nicknamed "Rex," fell asleep in a tree outside the hospital. He was eventually coaxed down from the tree with jelly doughnuts and sardines.

"So my bear is here because he was on the news already, and I figure that he can make it on our mural," says Stewart.

Stewart’s mural features the beauty of the state – from Dogwood blooms in the mountains, sunflowers and deer in the Piedmont, and beautiful North Carolina beaches.

"I text my mom periodically to let her know that now I’m getting paid to draw on the walls," laughs Stewart.

The big bonus: Watching others walk by or visit the outdoor courtyard and enjoy the view.

"It’s nice for my fellow co-workers and staff who spend their whole day taking care of other people to have a place where they can recharge and rest their mind so they can do it again," says Stewart.

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