VIRGINIA BEACH — For more than 30 years, Anthony White has been creating holiday murals in his spare time to brighten the hallways of Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
White is a maintenance technician at the hospital during the day and works on the murals at night.
On Monday afternoon, he unveiled six colorful cardboard murals and a gingerbread house to a crowd of onlookers.
“We always look forward to this,” said respiratory therapist Candace Bigelow, as White ripped off a sheet of white paper to reveal a playful snow scene underneath with fairy tale characters Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore.
For the first time, White added series of colorful lights to the murals. When he turned them on, the audience applauded.
“Oh, it’s just beautiful and uplifting,” Bigelow said. “We need this.”
White, 62, grew up in the Seatack area and graduated from First Colonial High School. He started working at the hospital on First Colonial Road in 1987 in the housekeeping department. This year may be his last holiday exhibition as he plans to retire in a few years.
In 1990, he created his first holiday mural as part of a competition in the hospital’s back hallway, but he wanted more patients, visitors and staff to see his work. This year’s murals are on display in front of the entrance to the cafeteria and two elevators used by staff to take patients from the emergency department to the hospital ward.
“If you come into this area and someone is sick or someone is going through something, they might see something that can help them forget that moment, that pain, for a few minutes,” White said. “This is why I do it, for the smiles.”
Painting the murals also allows him to recapture part of his youth, he said.
The artwork typically features famous characters, including the Grinch, M&M’s and Minions, which White cuts from brightly colored poster board and colors with chalk to create a two-dimensional scene. He hangs the removable pieces on the wall.
“I put it together like a puzzle,” White said.
He starts working on the mural elements at home every year in February and has set aside a room in his house specifically for the project. For years, his four children helped him hang the artwork the night before the unveiling.
White removes the murals from the wall at the end of each holiday season. He plans to donate the character cutouts he saved from previous years.
His wife, Erica, is a nurse at the hospital. She calls her husband “the encourager” because of his selflessness and positive attitude.
“His gift lifts people’s spirits,” she said.
White has also drawn portraits for colleagues and created a T-shirt design for the hospital’s 50th anniversary. But he finds the greatest joy when he sees people smiling as they walk past the murals.
“It’s impressive year after year,” said Elwood “Bernie” Boone, president of Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital. “He is an inspiration to all our employees and everyone who walks past this beautiful work of art.”
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
