After her life was saved by doctors from Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), Sonali Dhanidina (IA, ‘25) was inspired to give back. With the help of her friend and fellow OCSA student Olivia Le (CW, ‘25), the two formed CHOCArts – a club intended to spread love and joy at CHOC through art. After a very successful first few years, the club began to expand their efforts to other local hospitals, including Hoag, leading them to rebrand themselves as H.ARTS, which is short for Helping Hospitals through Arts.
Over the years, the students involved in H.ARTS have worked to bring art, entertainment and hope to patients through live and recorded performances showcased at the hospitals.
Sonali said that for OCSA students like herself and Oliva, art is more than just a hobby or potential career path. It is also an important tool for self expression and a way for young artists to provide hope, support and encouragement to patients and hospital workers.
“As artists, it is important to use our artistic gifts and abilities not only for ourselves, but to give back to the community,” she said.
One of the clubs’ notable projects this school year was a holiday-themed performance video that featured a variety of acts including singing, poetry, dancing and piano to share that spirit of the season with patients. The video played throughout the month of December for everyone to enjoy.
Sonali said H.ARTS is inclusive of all conservatories since every OCSA student artist has the ability to give back in their own way.
The two club leaders both hope that as the pandemic and limitations ease, there will be more opportunities for H.Arts to visit hospitals more often in person to do more work on site. Regardless, Sonali and Olivia said their dream for H.ARTS is that it continues after they graduate from OCSA in a few years, so that more students continue to spread love and joy through their unique artistic abilities.