Lewiston. Janet Tidd, a resident of Our Lady of Peace, admires a painting by Robert Averill in the hall way of the facility. (Jim Neiss / Niagara Gazette) Click on photo for larger image

Our Lady of Peace shows off art collection
By Sue Campbell
Thursday, June 10, 2026

LEWISTON — Bold red poppies, a drifting sailboat in Olcott, strutting roosters, an old lady in a huge flowered hat — they’re just a few of more than 60 paintings by Western New York artists that brighten the walls of Our Lady of Peace Nursing Care Residence.

Most of the art is displayed in the first-floor Rehabilitation Unit, which will be open to the public from 6 to 8 p.m. today (June 10) as Our Lady of Peace celebrates its first anniversary with an open house. Also featured will be hors d’oeuvres, a wine tasting by Warm Lake Estate Winery, a beer tasting by Flying Bison Brewing Co. and a chance to learn more about endowing these paintings in someone’s memory or honor.

This is the start of a permanent collection, featuring the work of local artists, that Lynn W. Catalano, executive director of the Mount St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, hopes to see grow to cover all the walls of the new nursing home.

“They stimulate the minds of the residents and the staff, and at the same time, make this a cultural landmark,” she said. “Now, we want to raise more money to continue to fill this very large building with these incredible local works.”

Endowments of the paintings already purchased by the nursing home will allow the purchase of more paintings. Anyone interested in endowing a painting, or local artists interested in selling or donating their works to the nursing home, should contact the hospital’s Foundation Office. Endowing a painting isn’t as expensive as many might think, Catalano said. They start as low as $50 and go to $1,500.

The paintings are popular among residents and staff. Some already have picked favorites, said Sandra Martino, Rehabilitation Unit manager. The Rehabilitation Unit provides a place for adult patients of all ages who need physical therapy with short or long-term care after leaving the hospital.

“They’re something you notice right away,” Jim Greenwald of Minneapolis said of the paintings Tuesday when he stopped to visit his mother, Our Lady of Peace resident Isobel Greenwald.

The Foundation purchased several watercolors by Wheatfield artist Jody Ziehm, who also donated one of her works.

“More hospitals and companies should take such an interest in art,” she said. “What’s really beautiful about the project — art just inspires people — it cheers up the whole facility.”
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