Projects are listed in no specific order.
Pulse of Our Mother Earth brings this question to life through thousands of vibrant, colorful medication vial caps, collected from operating rooms by the anesthesia team, destined for the landfill, arranged into a vivid, radiating mosaic of a stethoscope resting on the Earth. The globe itself is shaped from a discarded surgical cap, a quiet reminder that even the smallest materials in healthcare carry weight.
Created for Earth Month, this piece asks us to listen more carefully, not just to our patients, but to the world we inhabit. Healthcare saves lives, yet it is also one of the largest generators of waste and emissions in the United States, producing an estimated 14,000 tons of waste every single day, account towards 8.5 % of the domestic emissions.
The stethoscope is a symbol of care, of attention, of diagnosis. Here, it is turned outward, pressed to the chest of the Earth itself. The diagnosis is urgent; our Mother Earth is not in full health. Nonetheless, the background colors are bright, even hopeful, because the solutions are within reach: awareness, intention, and the willingness to change our practices.
Birth and Rebirth: Black Maternal Mortality Explored Through the Quilting Tradition
Created by: Isabel Alves de Lima with Leah Pimentel, MBA and Charlene Blake, MD
This quilt is constructed from medical textiles recovered from the Parnassus Operating room including scrub caps, bunny suits, and disposable scrub jackets. The pieces used honor the Waste to Art principle of finding beauty and meaning in creating anew with what is too easily thrown away.
The quilting tradition connects generations of women to those that came before us, much like childbirth. This ‘Bricklayer’ quilt pattern is inspired by the Gee's Bend quiltmakers, "a group of women and their ancestors from the Gee’s Bend area of Alabama’s rural Black Belt, whose quilts are celebrated as some of the most significant artistic contributions to American art history". Their legacy lives in this work and the belief that everyday materials can carry extraordinary meaning.
An image of a birthing mother is overlaid made out of braided strips of material, evoking Black hair braiding techniques. Black hair braiding is an art form, an act of care, connection, bonding and cultural memory.
This quilt was made in memory of Leah's aunt, Leola, who passed away during childbirth while bringing twins into the world. Her loss is one that far too many Black families know.
Inspiration:
The Birthing Quilt by Sarah of LittleLumpkin
Mary Lee Bendolph, Bricklayer, 1979-1980, Corduroy
References:
Black Maternal Mortality-The Elephant in the Room
MOUTH OF THE EARTH
Priyanka Suri
UCSF School of Dentistry
Created in the spirit of Earth Day on April 22, Mouth of the Earth confronts the often-unseen environmental cost of modern healthcare through the lens of dentistry. This sculpture is constructed entirely from discarded dental materials—blue nitrile gloves forming the oceans, green rubber dam sheets shaping the continents, and layers of reclaimed boxing and beading wax molded into exaggerated dentition. The inner mouth, built from wax remnants and sticky wax, becomes a repository for clinical waste: used dispensing tips, empty bonding containers, and dental cement byproducts—materials that are typically used once and then forgotten.
By transforming these items into visible structural and aesthetic elements, the work reimagines waste as both medium and message. The Earth is depicted not as a passive sphere, but as an open mouth—consuming, accumulating, and ultimately bearing the burden of what we discard. The contrast between the visually appealing outer surface and the chaotic, waste-filled interior reflects a critical tension, while healthcare heals individuals, it can simultaneously contribute to environmental harm on a global scale.
This piece invites viewers—especially those within healthcare—to reconsider everyday practices. Small, intentional changes can have meaningful impact: reducing single-use materials where safe and feasible, improving waste segregation to prevent unnecessary landfill disposal, exploring recyclable or biodegradable alternatives, and fostering a culture of sustainability within clinical settings.
Mouth of the Earth is not only a reflection of current realities but also a call to action. As we celebrate Earth Day, it urges us to expand our definition of care—beyond the patient in the chair to the planet that sustains us all.
Plastic Banner
by Colette Ono-Ko
As part of an educational campaign for the more than 2,500 UCSF Housing Residents that live on campus, the team created an art installation using colorful plastic bags as a banner displaying the message, "Not for Compost or Recycling." This banner is displayed for 1 week in each of our Housing Communities' lobbies. So far, it has moved between 4 different Housing buildings in two different zip codes.
This is part art installation and part educational campaign meant to remind residents not to put plastic bags in the compost or recycling bins, as they contaminate waste streams and hurt the City's ability to properly compost and recycle. The banner is displayed in high-traffic areas where residents are sure to pass by it. Next to the banner is a flyer that explains the banner and reminds people how to sort waste properly and what to do with plastic bags.
Based on waste stream audits conducted by SF Recology, we've been told that plastic bags are the most common contaminant in compost and recycling streams in our multifamily apartment buildings. Contamination and improper sorting (e.g., putting plastic bags in the compost or recycling bin), is not only bad for the environment, but can lead to fines and increased charges for residents of multi-unit buildings.
Just Breathe
By Anita Chan, Radiology RN
In the chaos of everyday life—filled with endless responsibilities, expectations, and the silent pressure to keep everything afloat--we often forget to pause and breathe. As an RN in the Radiology Department and a busy mom of two, I am in a constant limbo juggling the demands of work, family, and personal responsibilities that many can relate to. Whether we are a patient, healthcare provider, parent, or caregiver, I hope my artwork will remind us to breathe when the world feels like it's closing in-- pause, because we are only human, not machines, and that we are allowed to exist beyond the noise.
This canvas is created on an upcycled tracheostomy box and incorporates discarded materials collected from the radiology department during patient care, including sterile drapes, medication vial caps, allergy wristbands, surgical masks, oxygen tubing, bouffant caps, bandages, an emesis bag, ECG packaging, and other single-use plastics. Materials that are typically discarded after a brief moment of care becomes the foundation of this piece. By repurposing medical waste, the piece reflects both the environmental impact of routine healthcare practices and the human need to pause, breathe, and exist beyond the constant noise of responsibility.
The Clinicians
By Marilyn Bazinski
This Art to Waste acrylic painting series is called “The Clinicians.” They are 8x8 inch acrylic painting sketches on discarded cardboard boxes from medical supplies. The faces are painted in muted tones and embrace the corrugated cardboard texture. They reflect a sentiment of overwhelm felt due to increasing clinician demands and requests to continually do more with less. There is an overall feeling of being worn down, being pushed to the limit, yet the Clinicians continue to endure.
Video: Ecolectivos art competition with women from Santa Maria Xalapán, Jalapa, Guatemala
Lisa M Thompson, Professor, School of Nursing, UCSF
Video produced by Susana Aragon, Berkeley, California
Music de Anais Azul, Berkeley, California
Plastic is everywhere. It is a public health crisis, but there are solutions. Because plastic is made from petroleum, it is directly related to climate change. Less than 10% of plastic is recycled globally. My team is conducting a research project in rural Guatemala known as Ecolectivos, where we work with rural Xinca indigenous communities who are taking steps to reduce the burning of plastic waste in household cooking and trash fires. One of the activities we encourage is repurposing of plastic. In this exhibit, we present a video that shows women who participated in a recycled plastic art contest. We asked them to make an article from plastic that they had already used (no new plastic). Then we judged their entries and the top 3 won a prize and everyone got a certificate. Of note, we did not make the mural that is shown—that is in Guatemala City and is made entirely of bottle caps.
Grocery Bag & Lunch Bag 
Eunice Vergara
In light of California's plastic reduction efforts, I capitalize on my experience and create reusable tote and grocery bags, initiated in 2019, to produce environmentally friendly bags using canvas and nurses' scrubs. Through sales to colleagues and friends this year, I raised funds, distributing 50% to a non-profit supporting children with cancer and 50% towards covering costs for participating in the World Masters Games in Japan next year in May 2027.
