LiveGreen: A stairwell worth a stare

There's something new to look at when you take the stairs in University Tower. Brightly colored paintings now fill the landings of the stairwells, taking the place of the institutional blank walls.

LiveGreen volunteers Cindy Hanssen and Kara Haworth sold reusable hot/cold beverage cups to raise money for the murals. The original mural was painted by Omaha North students as part of Nebraska Medicine's "Stairwellness" program. Enthusiastic feedback made it obvious that the rest of the walls were pretty drab. To continue the effort to improve employee and patient experiences, more cups were sold and Legacy funds allocated for painting the rest of the stairwells. Hanssen found Kelli Zaugg and Stephen Kavanaugh, both local artists, to paint murals on additional landings. "The murals give people a different perspective than a white wall to look at while moving from floor to floor and are in different styles to appeal to a variety of tastes," Hanssen said. "We are excited to support local artists and to have the public art on campus." "It's pretty cool for a hospital to do something like this," Kavanaugh said. The feedback from patients and employees has been so positive, that Channel 3 recently featured the work in a news story. You can help conserve power, burn calories, improve your health, lift your spirits, and reduce waste while filling your reusable mug with coffee at a reduced price. It's a win-win-win-win-win, so stop waiting for the elevator and go check out the murals in the stairs. The final landing will be painted soon. Need more motivation to take the stairs?

• You will get there faster. Taking a quick flight or two of stairs beats waiting for the elevator.
• You burn more than 50 percent more calories walking up stairs than on flat surfaces and 66 percent more calories than standing in an elevator.
• This will leave more space in elevators for patients and visitors.
• Save the energy required to move the elevators from floor to floor.
• Movement can improve your overall health.
• Make your Fitbit happy.
• Use stairs throughout the day to help you keep your New Year's resolution.

Next time you are in the area, be sure to check the new murals out. By the way, these benefits apply to all stairwells on campus.