Toys for the Tiniest Patients

During her pediatric rotation at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Delia Bennett '96 noticed that the art lining the hospital's walls was placed far above a child's eyes and hands. The fourth year Penn State medical student and long time studio artist had just the prescription. She created seven interactive pieces to mount on the lower parts of the walls in the children's ward.

Her self-contained toys won't pinch little fingers—or be carried off by them. A favorite is the puzzle tree, a table with eight panels that slide around to make a tree. Bennett spent nearly a year and a half working on the project, including a month at the Dartmouth woodshop. "One day when I was carting the pieces around the Hopkins Center, three children ran over and tried to find their way through the wooden maze," she says. "That was my first indication that it would be a success."

In May Bennett moved on to a residency in plastic surgery, with the ultimate goal of a specialization in pediatric reconstructive surgery. "I chose plastic surgery because it is a way to combine medicine and sculpture," she says. "But the pure enjoyment of sculpting I can't get away from that."

Bennett's latest project is a 6-foot bronze sculpture, "Mother and Child," which remained on the Hershey campus when she departed.

Bennett used a Penn State Ballantine Award for Medical Student Work in the Arts to create her playpieces.