Jungle for a Child’s Mind evokes the tangled contours of youthful consciousness, capturing the untamed journey of a child’s mind as it meanders through the dense, uncharted landscape of imagination. This artwork sends out waves of thought and emotion, tracing the ever-shifting terrain of a child’s inner world. Vivid paths wind through surreal foliage, beams of light cut through enchanted landscapes, and the echoes of curiosity reverberate across vibrant layers. It speaks to the stories children create to make sense of their place in the world. Donated to the Child Mind Institute, this piece serves as a visual refuge for young patients in the waiting area, offering a quiet contemplation: do we shape our reality to mirror our inner narratives, or do we lose ourselves in the wild, expansive realms of the mind?

Eliot Greenwald (b. 1983, Portland, ME) is a self-taught artist currently based in Ashfield, MA. Most recently, Greenwald’s work has been exhibited at Almine Rech, Brussels (2024); Harper’s, New York, East Hampton, and Los Angeles (2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020); Long Story Short, Paris (2023); M+B, Los Angeles (2023 and 2022); WOAW Gallery, Hong Kong (2022); Best Western, Ridgewood, NY (2022); Taymour Grahne Projects, London (2021); Gana Art Nineone, Seoul (2021); and Hesse Flatow, New York (2021 and 2020). His work has appeared in Artnet, New York Sun, and Juxtapoz, among other publications (eliot-greenwald.com).

In January 2024, the Child Mind Institute moved its headquarters to a new 82,000-square-foot space in Midtown Manhattan. From the beginning, our new home was envisioned not only as a place for clinical care and research, but as a space that feels comforting, human, and inviting for children, teens, and their families. In order to support this vision, CMI established a comprehensive Art Program to foster meaningful engagement between our patients and the artwork around them. Through a thoughtfully curated permanent collection and integrated installations, the program helps create an environment that is stimulating, flexible, and collaborative —a space where we will help tens of thousands of children from 49 states, Washington, DC, and 45 nations over the coming decades and inspire current and future scientists to change the child mental health field as we know it. We hope that the digital archive will give patients and their families further opportunity to explore the collection and learn more about the talented artists that have contributed to our space.