Prints in the Wild – View Fine Art Prints in Real Spaces

Golden sunrise over Black Point, Narragansett, with shoreline illuminated

What Do the Prints Look Like on a Real Wall?

It’s hard to judge a print from a screen, so here are some of mine out in the world: hospital waiting rooms, restaurants, offices, a couple of shops and plenty of living rooms.

Why I Like Seeing Prints in Waiting Rooms

Art in hospitals and other busy places does more than fill a wall. Studies show that seeing nature scenes and other visual art can improve mood, reduce stress, and make people feel more comfortable. A majority of hospital visitors in research surveys said artwork helped them relax while waiting, turning what could be a stressful visit into something a little easier.

And it’s not just patients. Staff and visitors notice it too. Across multiple studies, visual art has been linked to lower heart rates, better overall well-being, and a more positive feeling about the space. Basically, the right artwork can make a hospital—or any public space—feel calmer, warmer, and more human.

That’s really why I like seeing my prints end up in places like this. It’s not that the wall looks nicer — it’s that someone gets a few seconds to notice something, somewhere they weren’t expecting to.

Fine art landscape print by Mike Dooley in a medical office waiting room.
I love when I run across one of my fine art prints in real spaces. On a recent trip for blood work I ran this print in a medical lab, sparking conversation among staff.

A Print That Got People Talking

Sometimes a print gets people talking.

I had a seascape hanging behind the check-in counter at a medical lab. When I stopped in and introduced myself, staff came over from every corner to meet me and tell me their own stories about it.

Prints in Everyday Life

Art doesn’t need a gallery. I’ve got prints hanging in an ice cream shop and a cafe, and I genuinely love that more than I probably should — there’s something about a seascape next to a menu board that just works. It reminds me this isn’t just decoration, it’s part of somebody’s ordinary day.

One of my favorite things is when someone spots one of my images “out in the wild,” snaps a selfie with it, and sends it off to me. Those moments mean the world to me, and I have a whole folder on my hard drive full of them! And seeing a print on a real wall is the best way I know to picture one on yours.

Fine art print by Mike Dooley on display in an ice cream shop, enhancing the space.
Mike Dooley fine art print displayed in a restaurant, adding drama and character to the space.

Dinner with a View

One of my favorite memories is seeing one of my prints fully installed in a local restaurant just a few towns over. A friend had snapped a photo of me standing beside the large piece on their dining room wall, and my wife and I couldn’t resist making a date night out of it to see it in person. It’s one thing to see a photograph on a screen. It’s another to see it on a wall in a room full of people having dinner.

Galleries

Prints end up in galleries too, where people can get right up close.

I’ve been lucky to have several solo shows, and every opening night is a thrill. I get to talk with people and hear which photographs they like and why.

Seeing a print placed in a real room — next to other work, in real light — teaches me more about how a photo actually reads than staring at it on a screen ever does.

It’s still a little surreal watching someone stop in front of one of my prints in a gallery. That reaction is pretty much the whole reason I keep doing this.

Fine art prints by Mike Dooley displayed in a gallery, professionally curated.

More Prints in the Wild

Some of these I found myself. Some were sent to me by people who spotted one and took a picture. If you see one out there, send it my way.

Hospitals, medical offices and nursing homes

Large landscape canvas by Mike Dooley hanging above the chairs in a doctors' waiting room in East Providence, Rhode Island.
A big landscape canvas over the chairs in a doctors' waiting room in East Providence.
Mike Dooley standing beside his framed seascape print in a doctors' waiting room in East Providence, Rhode Island.
That's me with one of my prints in a doctors' waiting room in East Providence.
Mike Dooley standing beside his framed seascape print on another wall of a doctors' waiting room in East Providence, Rhode Island.
Same waiting room, different wall.
Two large framed coastal prints by Mike Dooley hanging side by side on a wall in a medical building.
Two framed prints in a medical building.
Message to Mike Dooley reading: look what I saw while waiting to check in at the hospital in Westerly, it sure made me smile, with a photo of his framed lighthouse print on the wall.
The message she sent me while waiting to check in at the hospital in Westerly.
Mike Dooley signing a large framed winter print of Salter Grove in Warwick before installation at the Rhode Island Veterans Home.
Signing the Salter Grove winter print before it went to the Rhode Island Veterans Home.

Restaurants

Mike Dooley standing beside his framed print Sunflowers Under Stormy Skies at Gregg's Restaurant and Tavern in Warwick, Rhode Island.
The same sunflowers at Gregg's in Warwick.
Mike Dooley holding open a Gregg's Restaurant menu that features his photographs.
Gregg's even put my photographs in their menu.
Open restaurant menu showing two Mike Dooley photographs: the Pawtucket River Bridge at night and Watch Hill Lighthouse.
The Pawtucket River Bridge and Watch Hill Lighthouse, inside the menu.
Two women in a restaurant holding up menus that feature Mike Dooley's photographs of the Rhode Island State House and a lighthouse.
Showing off the menus.
Mike Dooley standing beside his large framed print of Point Judith Lighthouse at dawn hanging in a local restaurant.
Point Judith Lighthouse at dawn, framed and hanging in a local restaurant.
Large signed paper print of Point Judith Lighthouse by Mike Dooley on a framing table, ready to be framed for a local restaurant.
Point Judith Lighthouse, signed and ready to be framed for a local restaurant.

Banks, offices and shops

Several signed gallery wrap prints by Mike Dooley packed and ready for delivery to a Rhode Island bank.
Signed gallery wraps, packed and ready for a Rhode Island bank.
Very large paper print of Full Moon Over Providence by Mike Dooley laid out on a framing table for signing before installation in a corporate boardroom.
Full Moon Over Providence, laid out for signing before it went into a corporate boardroom.
Two framed Mike Dooley prints, the Rhode Island State House and Two Trees on a Hill, hanging on an orange wall in a local music shop.
The Rhode Island State House and Two Trees on a Hill, hanging in a local shop.

At home

Framed Mike Dooley print of Block Island waves hanging above a sideboard in a client's home.
A Block Island print on a client's wall at home.
Small framed Mike Dooley sunset print leaning against a carpeted stair, ready for a client to give as a gift.
Framed and ready. A client gave this one as a gift.
Mike Dooley and a smiling customer holding her newly signed sunflower print.
A happy customer with her signed print.

On metal

Mike Dooley next to a large metal print of Point Judith Lighthouse at sunrise.
A big metal print of Point Judith Lighthouse.
Large metal print of Dawn Greets Block Island by Mike Dooley hanging on a painted brick wall.
Dawn Greets Block Island on metal, hanging on a brick wall.
Metal print by Mike Dooley of the Newport Bridge under a full moon, hanging on a wall.
A metal print of the Newport Bridge under the moon.

Signing and showing

Rhode Island photographer Mike Dooley signing prints of his photograph The Lighthouse.
Signing prints of The Lighthouse.
Mike Dooley signing a large canvas print of Conimicut Lighthouse at a print shop in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Signing a large Conimicut Lighthouse canvas at a print shop in Warwick.
Mike Dooley and his mother-in-law standing in front of a large print of The Torpedo Room at his solo show at the Dryden Gallery in Providence.
With my mother-in-law in front of The Torpedo Room at my Dryden Gallery show.

Have a waiting room, a dining room or an office that needs something on the wall? Here’s how I work with businesses.

Why “Prints in the Wild” Matters

A photo of a print on a real wall tells you things a product page can’t: how big it really is, how it looks in ordinary light, and how it sits with the furniture around it. That’s why I keep adding to this page.

Want one on your own wall? Have a look through the galleries.

Browse the Galleries
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