CHILDRENS HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES
May 3, 2007

Dear Colleagues at The Art of Elysium,

We extend our warmest gratitude for giving your time, energy and creativity for our three-day Teen Impact retreat at El Capitan Canyon in Santa Barbara. The activities you provided were extraordinary and kept the teens engaged and happy. Your hard work and friendliness helped make this one of the best retreats in the history of the Teen Impact program.

One can only imagine the difficulties teenager’s face negotiating adolescence and cancer at the same time. Regaining a sense of normalcy is paramount to coping with the crisis. The Teen Impact retreats provide a wonderful opportunity for these young people to socialize, relax, share their experience and just be themselves for the entire weekend. Teen Impact depends upon volunteers like you to make the retreats a successful and magical experience for all.

Thank you for giving so much of yourselves and time to Teen Impact.

With warm regards,
Aura Kuperberg, PhD, LCSW
Director, Teen Impact
Childrens Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

July 12, 2006

Dear Colleagues at The Art of Elysium,

We are writing to express our gratitude for your assistance and enthusiasm in organizing some fantastic activities for our pilot adolescent group for children with type 1 diabetes. The artists who assisted in jewelry making, yoga and hip-hop were amazing, and we are so thankful for the time they volunteered to work with the group.

The adolescents participating in the group were thankful to utilize creative ways to help cope with their diabetes, as well as addressing issues of self-esteem, confidence, and stress management. Thank you for helping to make this pilot group a resounding success.

We look forward to being able to partner with you again in the future! Please forward along our gratitude to the artists who volunteered their time to work with us.

Sincerely,
Janet Wilson, MSW, LCSW
Cynthia Munoz, PhD
Lynda K. Fisher, MD
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

The Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is very proud of our relationship with The Art of Elysium. Over the past five years The Art of Elysium has proven to be a reliable partner in our efforts to increase our patients’ self-esteem and confidence. The Art of Elysium has worked with our child and pediatric psychologist to help provide new and inventive ways to teach social skills to our patients. They have participated in the Girl Talk and Yo lo Tengo groups with great success. They have provided makeovers for our patients and art projects to our craniofacial team patients as they wait for their medical appointments. They have provided music lessons to patients who needed distraction and drama workshops to help our patients talk about their medical experiences. We look forward to a long relationship with The Art of Elysium.

John Reinisch, M.D.
Head, Division of Plastic Surgery
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

July 7, 1997

Dear Ms. Howell,

On behalf of patients and staff at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, I want to extend sincere appreciation for your outreach and offer to service our institution.  As you know, the arts services currently offered to our hospital’s pediatric patients are 100% grant-funded and our limited budget allows us to reach only a fraction of the children here who can benefit from regular opportunities for self-expression and relaxation through the arts.

We are so thankful for the chance to partner with The Art of Elysium, as a means of bringing music, art and other hands-on creative experiences to the myriad of children who pass through our doors each week.  Your organization’s commitment to meeting the creative needs of our hospital – whether it is providing hands-on workshops, special concerts or the donation of a musical instrument to a deserving patient – makes a critical difference to the hospital experience so many of our patients encounter as they face the hardships of serious illness and hospitalization.

We are truly appreciative of the hard work, development and training The Art of Elysium has put forth in an effort to help make a difference here at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and look forward to a long and productive partnership.

Best regards,

Jennifer Armstrong, MA-ATR
Director, Art & Art Therapy
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles