Artwork and collage by Rebecca Moses.

They’re not your typical images of nurses—no scrubs or PPE in sight. A series of portraits by fashion designer and artist Rebecca Moses depicts nurses in their own clothes, celebrating them as unique and vibrant individuals. The paintings, which are featured on AJN‘s May cover (at left) and contextualized in our On the Cover article, are currently on display at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital in an exhibition to thank nurses for their work.

The art project got its start on Instagram.

In the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moses began posting daily portraits on Instagram of women who shared their lockdown stories with her. One woman who contacted Moses was the sister of Linda Valentino, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer of Mount Sinai West and vice-president of women’s and children’s services at the Mount Sinai Health System. Valentino’s sister told Moses about Linda’s work on the front lines of the pandemic. Inspired by her story, Moses created side-by-side portraits of Valentino: one depicting her in regular clothes, and one in PPE.

Vanessa Joseph, RN, with her portrait (top). Photos courtesy of Linda M. Valentino.

A visual “thank you.”

New York City was then the U.S. epicenter of COVID-19, and Valentino had been trying to brainstorm a way to honor her nursing colleagues for their efforts during an unspeakably difficult time. She also wanted to recognize the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.

A plan was born: Moses agreed to paint and donate 46 Mount Sinai nurse portraits to be displayed in a exhibition that would travel across the health system’s sites. (Mount Sinai management selected the nurses, who submitted photos of themselves.) Noted architect George Ranalli donated his time to design and install the exhibition, titled “Thank You, Mount Sinai Nurses,” which went on view at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Guggenheim Pavilion last December.

Owing to Moses’ and Ranalli’s creativity, Valentino says, the exhibition “promotes strong and positive images of nurses and highlights their significant work and invaluable contributions to healthcare.” In honoring Mount Sinai nurses, she explains, “we are recognizing nurses everywhere.” See photos from the exhibition below, and watch a video about it here.

(To learn about another art project that honors nurses, read our May Art of Nursing article, “#PPENow,” which features the work of nursing educator and artist Ali R. Tayyeb.)