Painter Corey Bloomberg, of Roslyn, builds following with 'happy art' murals
Artist Corey Bloomberg in front of a mural she donated to Cohen Children's Medical Center in Glen Oaks, Queens. Credit: Jeff Bachner
It started with a smiley face.
Corey Paige Bloomberg, a Roslyn native, had hunkered down in her parents’ home during the COVID-19 pandemic, spending late nights painting in the basement with television shows “Love Island” and “Outer Banks” on in the background.
Amid the darkest days of the public health crisis, as thousands of Americans died daily, she decided to inject her work with a jolt of light. A smiley face. A heart. A word: Love.
Now, Bloomberg, who has 104,000 followers on Instagram and 70,500 on TikTok, is known around the area for her “happy art,” with her murals hanging everywhere from Kennedy Airport to Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
Bloomberg recently unveiled a second mural at Cohen’s, an 89-by-666-inch work in the neonatal intensive care unit. It is full of smiley faces, peace signs and words like courage, brave and strength painted in warm hues of orange, yellow, blue and more.
“NICU parents are probably stressed and anxious and nervous; they just had a child early,” Bloomberg said. “To have that design when you’re walking into the NICU, or walking out of the NICU, my hope is that it’s calming and fun.”
Bloomberg, 29, who lives in Manhattan, grew up in Roslyn. Her family then moved to Old Westbury, where she graduated from The Wheatley School before heading off to Emory University in Atlanta for her freshman year.
Her art career took off after she transferred to Tulane University in New Orleans. The city, with its historic music and art scene, stirred her creativity and passion. So did a semester abroad in Florence, Italy. By the time she graduated, she had her own business, with designs depicting different summer sleepaway camps and colleges printed on cellphone cases, leggings and pillows.
Her work took on a different tone after the pandemic hit. And when she would paint “happy art,” she posted it on social media.
“The news wasn’t so fun to listen to or watch or see on your Instagram feed,” Bloomberg said. “But if they could scroll past a happy face, or a peace sign, or a rainbow, and see some fun stuff, it might make them happy.”
Bloomberg donated coloring sheets and masks with her designs to hospitals, she said, and taught art to children over Zoom. It was that same spirit that led Bloomberg, who volunteered at a sports program for autistic children in high school, to donate her first mural in November to Cohen’s, which is in Glen Oaks, Queens, steps from the Nassau County border.
The 96-by-573-inch work is a bright mural that pops with Long Island-themed iconography, like a bagel, a cup of coffee and the Jones Beach light tower. Like most of Bloomberg’s work, it also includes uplifting messages like “you are strong” and “you are brave.” It’s emblazoned on a wall near the entrance of the children’s hospital.
Erin Donohue, Cohen’s director of hospital operations, said the mural is therapeutic for patients.
The mural creates “a welcoming environment for kids,” Donohue, 53, said. “Something like this is very friendly and uplifting. … Not only did it wow the kids that would walk by, but also the parents and the staff members.”
Bloomberg has run multiple art workshops at the hospital, including helping the patients make holiday cards for their favorite doctor or nurse.
Last year, she befriended Josslyn Dunac, then 8, who underwent tonsil removal surgery at Cohen's. In the months after their meeting, Josslyn's mother Laura said, Josslyn has grown into a more confident artist.
Josslyn recently created an outfit for a doll with glittery paper she purchased at a local arts and crafts store.
"Her artwork is so colorful, so vivid, so, like what Josslyn is on the inside," Laura Dunac, a registered nurse and a magnet facilitator at Cohen's, said of Bloomberg. "I think that's one of those things that Josslyn connected with. Like, 'this person really created all these things. This young person actually made all this art. Maybe that's something I can do too.'"
Bloomberg also won some young fans on social media, where she regularly posts her art from her @coreypaige_designs accounts. Earlier in the summer, she said, a mother sent her a video of her daughter, who is dyslexic, painting.
“The daughter didn’t know she was being recorded, and she was saying something like, ‘I hope I can give this to Corey Paige,’” Bloomberg said. “She messaged me, ‘My daughter is dyslexic and has a hard time in school. We’re enrolling her in art programs. You are such an inspiration to her.'”
It started with a smiley face.
Corey Paige Bloomberg, a Roslyn native, had hunkered down in her parents’ home during the COVID-19 pandemic, spending late nights painting in the basement with television shows “Love Island” and “Outer Banks” on in the background.
Amid the darkest days of the public health crisis, as thousands of Americans died daily, she decided to inject her work with a jolt of light. A smiley face. A heart. A word: Love.
Now, Bloomberg, who has 104,000 followers on Instagram and 70,500 on TikTok, is known around the area for her “happy art,” with her murals hanging everywhere from Kennedy Airport to Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
Bloomberg recently unveiled a second mural at Cohen’s, an 89-by-666-inch work in the neonatal intensive care unit. It is full of smiley faces, peace signs and words like courage, brave and strength painted in warm hues of orange, yellow, blue and more.
Corey Bloomberg in front of a mural she was commissioned to paint in the hallway outside the neonatal intensive care unit at Cohen Children's Medical Center. Credit: Jeff Bachner
“NICU parents are probably stressed and anxious and nervous; they just had a child early,” Bloomberg said. “To have that design when you’re walking into the NICU, or walking out of the NICU, my hope is that it’s calming and fun.”
Bloomberg, 29, who lives in Manhattan, grew up in Roslyn. Her family then moved to Old Westbury, where she graduated from The Wheatley School before heading off to Emory University in Atlanta for her freshman year.
Her art career took off after she transferred to Tulane University in New Orleans. The city, with its historic music and art scene, stirred her creativity and passion. So did a semester abroad in Florence, Italy. By the time she graduated, she had her own business, with designs depicting different summer sleepaway camps and colleges printed on cellphone cases, leggings and pillows.
Her work took on a different tone after the pandemic hit. And when she would paint “happy art,” she posted it on social media.
“The news wasn’t so fun to listen to or watch or see on your Instagram feed,” Bloomberg said. “But if they could scroll past a happy face, or a peace sign, or a rainbow, and see some fun stuff, it might make them happy.”
Bloomberg donated coloring sheets and masks with her designs to hospitals, she said, and taught art to children over Zoom. It was that same spirit that led Bloomberg, who volunteered at a sports program for autistic children in high school, to donate her first mural in November to Cohen’s, which is in Glen Oaks, Queens, steps from the Nassau County border.
The 96-by-573-inch work is a bright mural that pops with Long Island-themed iconography, like a bagel, a cup of coffee and the Jones Beach light tower. Like most of Bloomberg’s work, it also includes uplifting messages like “you are strong” and “you are brave.” It’s emblazoned on a wall near the entrance of the children’s hospital.
Erin Donohue, Cohen’s director of hospital operations, said the mural is therapeutic for patients.
The mural creates “a welcoming environment for kids,” Donohue, 53, said. “Something like this is very friendly and uplifting. … Not only did it wow the kids that would walk by, but also the parents and the staff members.”
Bloomberg has run multiple art workshops at the hospital, including helping the patients make holiday cards for their favorite doctor or nurse.
Last year, she befriended Josslyn Dunac, then 8, who underwent tonsil removal surgery at Cohen's. In the months after their meeting, Josslyn's mother Laura said, Josslyn has grown into a more confident artist.
Josslyn recently created an outfit for a doll with glittery paper she purchased at a local arts and crafts store.
"Her artwork is so colorful, so vivid, so, like what Josslyn is on the inside," Laura Dunac, a registered nurse and a magnet facilitator at Cohen's, said of Bloomberg. "I think that's one of those things that Josslyn connected with. Like, 'this person really created all these things. This young person actually made all this art. Maybe that's something I can do too.'"
Bloomberg also won some young fans on social media, where she regularly posts her art from her @coreypaige_designs accounts. Earlier in the summer, she said, a mother sent her a video of her daughter, who is dyslexic, painting.
“The daughter didn’t know she was being recorded, and she was saying something like, ‘I hope I can give this to Corey Paige,’” Bloomberg said. “She messaged me, ‘My daughter is dyslexic and has a hard time in school. We’re enrolling her in art programs. You are such an inspiration to her.'”
Mural mission
- Corey Paige Bloomberg was raised in Roslyn and graduated from The Wheatley School in Old Westbury.
- Bloomberg has 104,000 followers on Instagram and 70,600 on TikTok.
- Bloomberg specializes in so-called “happy art” and has two contributed two murals to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens.
Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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