EVANSTON — The Uinta Medical Group facility was recently remodeled, including a series of creative murals painted by local artist Ryan Gilmartin in the new pediatric unit.

Ryan earned his BFA from Colorado State and his MFA at the Pratt Institute in New York. He was adjunct faculty of art at Metropolitan State University of Denver and had a freelance studio in Denver. He has worked in mixed mediums, including acrylic, digital, woodworking and metal.

He welcomed the opportunity to do the exam rooms, as it has been a while since he has done any murals. Ryan said he feels that all of the mediums he has used have informed his mural creations.

Ryan and his wife, Dr. Bird Gilmartin, are recent transplants to Evanston, coming from Colorado and Rock Springs. Bird is one of two pediatricians at Uinta Medical Group, and when Jessica Kendrick, who was coordinating the new remodeling, found out that Bird’s husband is an accomplished artist, she asked Ryan to design something for the rooms. Kendrick said the aim was to create rooms that would help children relax and love going there. Ryan used his background in a variety of art mediums and his experience as a father and full-time caregiver to his two children, ages 1 and 4, to create exciting and captivating murals.

When creating the design for the murals, Ryan said he asked himself, “How can I make this a more positive experience for the kids? How can I keep their attention longer and also moms and dads?”

“I tend to make it hard on myself and a challenge to increase ways for the patient and the parents to have a more positive experience with the doctor,” he said.

In each of the four exam rooms, Ryan has painted different murals designed specifically for different age groups and genders. The murals are unique and incorporate scenes that are especially geared toward children.

There is the fantasy room with the other pediatrician Dr. Alan Brown’s four children and Ryan and Bird’s two children among the fairies, flowers, mushrooms, airplanes and rockets, and a flying wagon and a little girl behind the door.

In the robot room, Ryan used the medical instruments hanging on the wall and robots resembling medical instruments as part of the mural. There is even a robot sitting on the wall behind the door so that when the doctor comes in and shuts the door, there is a new surprise for children.

The room for babies and toddlers has building blocks, Legos, a toy train and trucks on the wall, and the exam table is a fire truck. There is even a chalkboard and a child’s drawing painted on the wall.

The last exam room for older children has a school bus exam table filled with animals and animal shapes hidden in clouds on blue walls. The animals are arranged alphabetically, and at the bottom of the wall near the bus is a zebra.

All of the murals are colorful and draw immediate attention upon entering a room. Jessica Kendrick pointed out the layers of Ryan’s murals and how the stories behind the pictures give children and parents much to talk about and focus on.

Ryan said when he was a teacher, he would ask his students to think about everything that was involved in creating a work of art — what would give the viewer a positive experience, what the context and the stories are behind what they want to create.

When Ryan was asked if he would open a studio in Evanston, he responded enthusiastically, “Art is now second place to being a full-time dad; now I spend my time creating with my kids, whether it is coloring or crafts. One of the reasons we moved here was to have a simpler life and to have more time with the kids.”