American Healing Art and American Medical Art (original) (raw)

American Healing Art and American Medical Art

Introduction

This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Healing Art and American Medical Art." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.

After articles and essays from Resource Library are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches. Following online resources may be information about offline resources including museums, paper-printed books, journals and articles.

We recommend that readers searchwithin the TFAO website to find detailed information for any topic.Please see our pageHow to research topics not listed for more information.

"Art can literally help to lift people out of depression. It can help to relieve stress, or help to calm nerves or it can give people energy." - Diane Overmyer

(above: Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic, 1889, 84.2 x 118.1 inches, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Articles and essays from Resource Library in chronological order:

Picturing Health: Norman Rockwell and the Art of Illustration (2/3/07)

The Art of Healing: The Wishard Art Collection (2/23/04)

Norman Rockwell and the Art of Medicine (7/6/03)

Frank Moore: Green Thumb in a Dark Eden; essay by Sue Scott (7/12/02)

Frank Moore: Green Thumb in a Dark Eden (3/18/02)

Esther Bubley: American Photo-Journalist (6/23/01)

Art Healing and Friendship: The Doctor Albert Grokoest Collection (11/5/98)

From other websites:

Another Side Revealed Art with a Heart in Healthcare is a 2017 exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville which says: "MOCA Jacksonville continues its partnership with Art with a Heart in Healthcare, a nonprofit organization that provides personalized fine art experiences to enhance the healing process for patients and families at Wolfson Children's Hospital, Nemours Children's Clinic, and Brooks Rehabilitation." Accessed 9/17

A Picture of Health: Art and the Mechanisms of Healing was a 2016 exhibit atAllen Memorial Art Museum, which says: "A Picture of Health explores the mechanisms by which art has been perceived to bring about the health and well-being of its makers and beholders.... Artists have challenged or reaffirmed established ideas concerning medicine, reflecting upon the person and practices of the healer, modes of treatment, and the spaces in which healing occurs." Also see an exhibit review by Julia Peterson in The Oberlin Review 2/5/16.Accessed 11/16

Art and Creativity for Healing website. Accessed August, 2015.

Art As A Healing Force Web by Michael Samuels. M.D., from artashealing.org. Accessed August, 2015.

Arts and Healing Network website. Accessed August, 2015.

Arts for Healing: Reflections 2017 is a 2017 exhibit at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art which says: "SAMA's Museum/Healthcare Partnership Program debuted in 2003 in an attempt to help area residents suffering from mental and physical disabilities. Through the program, SAMA's trained artists and educators work with health care providers to develop residencies and workshops aimed at providing relief for patients dealing with physical pain and discomfort." Accessed 4/17

De'VIA: The Manifesto Comes of Age is a 2019 exhibit at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester which says: "The exhibition draws principally from the permanent collection of RIT's Dyer Arts Center, which is located on the campus of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. The exhibition is curated by Tabitha Jacques, director of the Dyer Arts Center and Patricia Durr, artist and NTID faculty." Accessed 8/20

Elizabeth Hall: Viriditasis a 2022 exhibit at the School of Art, George Mason University which says: "Elizabeth Hall: _Viriditas_features the artist and herbalist's recent paintings and mixed-media works, which investigate the relationship between individual plants and their affinity for human bodily systems. To develop an empirical understanding of these connections, Hall begins the act of drawing while imbibing each herb. This visual transference of the healing power of plants became the basis for her series, Viriditas, or "greening power," in which drawings of bodily organs and systems are interwoven with botanical imagery related to the herbs and their effects." Accessed 1/23

The Future of Health in the City is a 2019 exhibit at the University of Buffalo Art Galleries which says: "The collective portrait of the communities presented brings into visual conversation individuals working in the BNMC's Innovation Labs, UB medical students and facilitators, residents of Buffalo's East Side neighborhoods, individuals experiencing homelessness and members of the Restoration Society, Inc. team who are dedicated to providing them with vital support services." Accessed 6/20

Louise Bourgeois: What is the Shape of This Problem?, from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation is a 2022 exhibit at the USC Fisher Museum of Art which says: "What is the shape of this problem?" is a question presented on the opening page of a series of nine letterpress diptychs of image and text produced by Bourgeois in 1999 and in many ways, it is a poignant frame for this exhibition. This question, like much of the text used in her prints, positions these works within Bourgeois' multi- layered practice of identifying and bravely exploring her personal history, her creative process, and her mental health." Accessed 11/22

Mary Huntoon: Artist & Art Therapistis an exhibition hosted by the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas from August 23, 2021 through November 23, 2021. The Spencer describes the exhibition as follows: "This collaborative exhibition is co-curated by staff from the Spencer Museum and Spencer Research Library and showcases the career of Kansas artist and art therapist Mary Huntoon (1896-1970). Although she was a key figure in printmaking and in the founding of art therapy, Huntoon's work is largely unknown outside the Midwest. The show includes artwork by Huntoon, as well as photographs and ephemera from her personal records drawn from the Spencer Museum and Spencer Research Library's collections. This exhibition is organized by three themes: Huntoon's contributions to the development of the field of art therapy, her artistic career, and an inside look at the conservation examinations and treatments completed on some of the works displayed." Accessed 9/23

Neurofibromatosis: The People by Rachel Mindrup is a 2019 exhibit at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art regarding which the artist says: "My son Henry has been the motivation behind my series of portraits depicting individuals with Neurofibromatosis (NF)." Also see website of artist. Accessed 8/20

Walk Back to Your Body is a 2019 exhibit at the Weisman Art Museum which says: "Through this series of collaborations between artists and researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School, we ask you to consider the ways in which your body features (or, perhaps, does not feature?) in your daily lives, disrupting the automatized ways in which we navigate the world." Accessed 11/20

Wilma Siegel - Children of the Modern Family is a 2019-20 exhibit at the Coral Springs Museum of Art which says: "Wilma Bulkin Siegel, M.D. is a pioneer in the integrations of Art in Medicine. During her professional life, first as a physician and later as an artist, Wilma always wanted to use art to enhance medical care. She educated herself by finding out what was being done in this field by others, developing her own ideas and implementing different projects." Also see website of artist with 56 minute video. Accessed 8/20

Online Video for Your Consideration:

April, 2023 screenshot via Google video search:

Books:

The Art of Healing: Medicine and Science in American Art, By William H. Gerdts, Birmingham Museum of Art. Published by Birmingham Museum of Art, 1981. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized Nov 12, 2007. 119 pages

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