Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Samrina Danani, RN, said she has not gotten a full night's sleep.
Danani, a 27-year-old graduate student and nurse in the cardiac care unit at Swedish Hospital in Chicago, said her weekly schedule (usually three, 12-hour shifts) turned into four to five 12-hour shifts when cases increased at her hospital. And her shifts rarely ended at the scheduled 12 hours.
She and her team became overworked as the hospital got busier with coronavirus cases. Protective equipment was scarce, and she had to reuse N95 masks and gowns. She often cared for declining COVID-19 patients alone, comforting them as they struggled without family by their side.
Danani said her work took both a physical and mental toll.
"It was a very challenging time for me," Danani told 番茄社区app in an email. "I almost felt lost and started to doubt my ability to care for these patients because everything was so unpredictable."
When Danani heard from a friend that was painting portraits of frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, she reached out.
Upon seeing her portrait, Danani was amazed by the accuracy of the dark circles under her eyes, the details on her Disney-themed face mask and floral scrub cap. In difficult times, the portrait made her feel like a valued and essential member serving her community.
"Anyone that isn't on the front line will never understand the hardship we have gone through and are still going through," Danani said. "Besides the memories, heartbreaks, blood, sweat and tears my co-workers and I have endured, I wanted something concrete that would symbolize this difficult time I am living through."
Derrick has painted more than 100 portraits, highlighting the lines, bruises and marks on providers' faces from working long shifts in protective gear. Derrick has donated all portraits to the medical workers he documents.
"Their stories that come with the people doing this work are really incredible," Derrick told 番茄社区app. "You just want to say thank you."
Derrick's project is one of a few art exhibitions launched to honor healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Artists across the country have produced and donated their work to celebrate members of the medical community and remember the lives lost by those treating patients on the front lines of the pandemic.
Last week, Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn received a shipment of 1,800 paintings of flowers -- one for each doctor, nurse, administrative worker, and facilities staff member.
The paintings were a part of a project called "," by Los Angeles-based artist Michael Gittes. The artist used a syringe to paint all 1,800 pieces, which he began working on in the middle of March.
Gittes decided that he wanted to donate his work to a hospital in late February, and he worked with his manager to identify a non-profit hospital that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. He also wanted to ensure that the hospital was the right size so that he could paint a unique work for each employee.
The idea for the project stemmed from feeling love for healthcare workers whom he did not know, Gittes said. Each unique flower symbolizes individuality.
"I wanted them to feel appreciated not just as a cog in the wheel, but as individuals," Gittes told 番茄社区app.
Artists like Derrick and Gittes have chosen to donate their work to healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. But some curators have also connected with families of the medical community, choosing to honor lives lost.
An art exhibit to honor healthcare workers who died during the pandemic called the Hero Art Project will launch in September 2020 in midtown Manhattan. Around 50 artists will contribute to the memorial, and have been paired with families that have lost a loved one on the front lines.
Susannah Perlman, the curator at , the organization hosting the exhibit, said that the goal of the project is to use art as a healing tool.
"These are our frontline warriors. These are the people who save our lives," Perlman told 番茄社区app. "Even though this gesture is small, I think it means so much."
The Hero Art Project is still accepting inquiries from families who lost a loved one on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, Perlman said.