From waste to wonder: Narwhal art debuts at Kentucky Children’s Hospital
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 27, 2025) — What do you get when you mix a mountain of medical waste, a splash of imagination and a pinch of pure magic? At Kentucky Children’s Hospital, the answer is two cheerful narwhals, stitched from syringe caps, IV tubes and a whole lot of heart, swirling through an ocean where trash transforms into treasure.
The art piece, the result of collaboration of entities across the hospital, is a 4-foot by 4-foot collage that hangs just outside the pediatric inpatient unit on the fifth floor of the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. In some ways, this piece is a sequel — the second in a series of whimsical, child-friendly art made entirely of plastic waste.
In the first collaborative piece, countless pounds of colorful plastic pieces such as syringe caps, medical vial tops and IV tubes were collected and repurposed into a unicorn named Unity “MoonPie” McSparkles. The nearly life-size creature hangs by the elevators, greeting patients and visitors. With thousands of pieces of plastic left over — and a new unit to decorate — the KCH community came together to create their newest comforters: a pair of narwhals and their undersea friends.
“I was here for the birth of the unicorn MoonPie,” said Joey Elizabeth Burke, a nurse ethicist in the UK College of Medicine who was part of the team that helped create the piece. “The process was magic in action. From conception to installation, every step was collaborative and whimsical. MoonPie is now the perfect greeter when you step off the elevator into KCH.”
With the expansion of the KCH inpatient unit to the fifth floor of UK Chandler Hospital, hospital staff wanted to include another colorful character to ensure that families and patients receive a similar welcome. Lisa Butcher, KCH acute care manager, connected with Erin McAnallen, KCH’s expressive arts resource specialist and Jason Akhtarekhavari, manager of UK Arts in HealthCare, to begin the new project. But what animal, similar in both majesty and whimsy to MoonPie, would be the featured creature? After first considering a sphinx, dragon and mermaids, the team decided on the narwhal, an elusive, toothed whale native to the Arctic. Arts in HealthCare’s James Shambhu, a UK College of Fine Arts alum, built the wooden frame and sketched the narwhals’ undersea home. As they did for the MoonPie project, the KCH staff established collection points around the hospital for additional plastic waste.
“We took years to collect the plastic. When we say years, it is not an exaggeration,” said Burke. “The idea was primarily to gather enough pieces and parts to have enough to work with. We invited people to see a piece of trash as something more than just detritus.”
For example, there’s more than meets the eye on the colorful clown fish. Caps from insulin syringes and vials of magnesium sulfate and the antibiotic Cefazolin form the orange stripes; parts of saline flush syringes make up the white stripes. Elsewhere in the piece, “baby fish” are side cuts from the protective covers of IV tubing. Purple “flowers” are safety caps for lancets. From afar, the ocean appears to be an undulating wave of shades of blue; on closer inspection, the briny deep is comprised of layers of caps from 4.2% sodium bicarb and the antibiotic Ceftaroline.
The piece also includes elements from other areas of the hospital, such as guitar picks to represent music therapy and a paint brush for art therapy. Part of a plastic fork pays homage to the dietitians and nutritionists who work with patients. The inclusion of these elements symbolizes that healing is not just medicine and procedures; they depict the countless staff members and providers who work together to restore a patient’s physical, emotional and mental health.
“These projects would never come to fruition without the help of UK HealthCare’s central pharmacy and the pediatric pharmacy departments,” said Erin McAnallen. “They took the time to supply us with a variety of colors as we were trying to complete some of the textures and patterns for this piece.”
After seeing the impact of the first collaborative art piece, KCH staff is hopeful the narwhals will bring the same happiness to all patients and family members.
“When you step out of the elevator into the children’s hospital, you see this dear unicorn who is taking it easy, sitting in a green field, and seeming to have only one care in the world — to say hello to you,” said Loralyn Cecil, director of philanthropy in the College of Health Sciences and participant of the narwhal project. “You’ll see little kids admiring the unicorn, pointing out favorite pieces, showing how the piece could not be more charming or beloved. For me, it is a huge honor to be part of another artwork that will have a similar impact.”
Mona Schlawinsky, one of the KCH nurses who assisted in the creation of the unicorn, was excited to be part of the new project. She works on the new inpatient floor and will get to see firsthand how patients and their families will interact with the artwork she had a hand in creating.
“It was a nice contrast to our busy unit life to work on the narwhals,” she said. “I think the kids will love seeing the narwhals, and they might recognize some of the caps that we used.”
All that remains is to find the perfect name for these majestic sea creatures. Staff across the health care enterprise will be invited to participate in a naming contest. For now, the colorful creatures are on full display within the new inpatient unit, greeting patients, families and staff alike, inviting them to explore their colorful world.
“In the halls of the hospital, art speaks so beautifully to children, parents and staff,” said Cecil. “Much of the art is about the care and affection we all have for each other. The new additions — like the unicorn and the narwhals — celebrate the sweetness in our world and the worlds we can dream about. I think having such beautiful reminders is incredibly important in a hospital.”
Name the narwhals
To celebrate the unveiling of the art piece, KCH will hold a contest to name the narwhals. The contest is open to everyone. The names will be selected by a committee, and the person who submitted the winning names will receive a custom 3D printed narwhal trophy. Deadline for submission is June 16. The winner will be announced July 7.
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