Photo Courtesy Sheila Adamo

IT STARTED AS A SIMPLE DREAM shared by two siblings. Sheila Adamo and her brother, Tom DiBartolomeo, the director of child psychology at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, often talked about how Adamo’s murals would be the perfect addition to the hospital. Sadly, it took DiBartolomeo’s death for that dream to become reality.

As a tribute to her brother and a gift to the hospital, Adamo painted her first mural for the hospital in 2002, located in an outside courtyard. The completed mural was 14 feet tall and 20 feet wide and was an instant hit with patients and visitors alike.
 
A visitor from the Virginia Piper Charitable Trust, a health care-oriented nonprofit, thought the murals would brighten up the floor that houses cancer patients, so the hospital agreed to have Adamo design more murals.

Seven years later, Adamo’s artwork now adorns multiple spaces throughout the hospital. A circus-themed room, a muscle car and hidden puzzles in the paintings are just some of the wonders she has created for the hospital.

Adamo first learned to paint as a student at Maryvale High School, then continued her studies during the next 30 years. She says that painting at the hospital has been one of her “most favorite projects ever,” and she plans to touch up some of the older murals soon.