The enhancing power of art
July 10, 2007
For years, my father spent his Saturday mornings teaching kids how to draw and paint and work with clay. For him, art wasn't limited to pictures hanging in a museum or an exclusive gallery. Art meant making things, and it also meant sharing - sharing a skill, sharing a vision, sharing a common experience.
His philosophy was that everyone should have the opportunity to become actively involved in the arts. When he ran the junior arts exhibit at the Ohio State Fair, he always made sure there was an area where people who wanted could sit down and draw. If they'd ask, he'd give them a mini lesson in perspective or show them how to draw a tree the way it grows, from the ground up. He enjoyed letting people scribble on a piece of paper and then taking it and, with a few strokes of the pen, creating a picture of a bird or a tiger in the forest or an old woman doing laundry. Art, he believed, was a way to teach yourself to see and a way to be a part of something outside yourself.
I know my father would have appreciated the Employee Arts Initiative at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) described in this month’s feature. In the final installment of her three part series on medical humanities in Boston, Janet Cromer describes how at CHA art plays a crucial role in enhancing an environment of empathy and tolerance. Art created by employees is an inherent part of the culture at CHA. From Brazilian percussion classes to a collaboratively painted mural to the publication of an annual literary journal, art is an avenue for staff renewal and a bridge between healthcare professionals and patients. It's a way, says Elizabeth Gaufberg, MD, chair of CHA's Arts in Healthcare Committee, for staff to get to know each other better and to develop sensitivities that make them better caregivers.
Sandy and I were having dinner the other night with our friends Jane and Matt. Jane works with schools to facilitate the integration of art into the curriculum and to find ways to make art a more integral part of student life. At one point during the evening, our conversation turned to the disconnect between art and everyday life in America. We all agreed that's sad. Art let's us see our humanity and strengthens our connections with one another. Art teaches us to be sensitive to the world around us. That's something my father clearly understood, and it's reassuring to know that healthcare institutions recognize the difference art can make.
Joseph Saling
Correction: Last week, we inadvertently dropped Margaret Penney Capra's first name in the item in Noteworthy describing her receipt of the Charles Wood Award for Exceptional Patient Service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Contact On Call Managing Editor Joe Saling at joesaling@comcast.net.
