Approximately 70 U.S. Military Academy cadets will join The Foundation of Hospital Art and other volunteers to paint at the Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, N.Y., Feb. 10.

The project, called "PaintFest," is part of a community service effort to reach out to people in need. The volunteers spend the day painting with patients to brighten the walls and ceilings in the hospital.

"PaintFest is sponsored by the Foundation for Hospital Art," said John Feight, creator and artist behind the project.

He explained that the foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to comforting hospital patients by softening the hard walls and ceilings that surround them during their illness with warm, colorful murals painted with the help of volunteers.

"That is really what this project is all about," Feight said. "To bring a little joy and comfort to hospital patients."

The foundation provides paintings and mobiles that are pre-drawn and color-coded for the volunteers.

"Our paintings and mobiles really help brighten the patients’ outlook and gives them a way to escape from the situation they are in," Feight added.

PaintFest 2001 will mark the second time cadets have painted for people in hospitals. Last year the cadets painted for veterans in the Hudson Valley VA Medical Center in Montrose, N.Y. The Robert Wood Johnson Jr. 1962 Charitable Trust sponsored the West Point PaintFest.

Keller Army Community hospital here was the beneficiary of a mini-PaintFest last year. The event was held in February and volunteers painted 60 ceiling tiles, four murals and two wall paintings. This year’s mini-PaintFest will be held Thursday and February 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

But the real success of these events, Feight said, comes from the enjoyment provided to both volunteers and patients.