Andover portrait artist lifts spirits of sick children

Andover resident Susan Currie is not a doctor or a nurse, but she has found a way to help the healing of cancer patients by combining her compassion for children with creativity.

Her black-and-white portraits of local children were selected by the Massachusetts General Hospital's art review committee for an exhibition at the Cancer Center's Illuminations gallery, which was developed in 2001 to provide a more calming and encouraging environment for patients and their families.

"I am very humbled and touched to be there alongside Curious George and everyone involved in the project," said Currie, who will be on hand at next week 's opening reception.

Cheering her on will be longtime friend and collaborator Cathy Constantine of Sandown, N.H., who wrote the captions for Currie's collection. The two met in 2002 while Currie's daughter was attending the Andover School of Montessori, where Constantine taught until 2006.

Drawing on more than 24 years of experience working with children and having taught most of the subjects featured in Currie's photos, Constantine sought to express the lessons she learned from working in Montessori education.

Her titles, Constantine said, are "a symbol of endurance of children." Some messages include, "Cheer! Spread It Around," "Make Your Own Choices. Have Pasta for Breakfast," and "Enjoy Every Moment. Make It Last."

The joint effort, they said, has provided balance, with Constantine supplying the language and Currie providing images for what cannot be expressed in words. Their collaboration has resulted in two manuscripts, "Make It Last" and "Make It Happen," which they hope to publish.

"One little caption can help someone get through the day, and who better to view the world through than a child?" Constantine said.

The venue more than meets one important expectation of any artist -- a space to emotionally connect with viewers.

"As an artist you're always thinking, 'Maybe I'll sell a couple of portraits or turn a little profit to cover the cost of overheads,' " Currie said. "Those overheads go right out the window when you're given an opportunity like this. I just can't speak highly enough about the personal satisfaction that comes from bringing a little cheer to the hospital walls."

For the past decade, Currie has been photographing children of all ages, primarily for commissioned portraits. The idea of shooting children just clicked with her sensibilities after becoming a parent of two.

The pictures she took of her children eventually extended to pictures of her friends' children, and their friends' children, until her hobby eventually gave birth to a business.

" Kids will always amaze me. They produce the most fun-inspired shots. They pose from the heart," she said. "Parents come in all time with their hair done up perfectly and the perfect themed pose, but that's just not accurate."

Currie doesn't opt for traditional school picture poses. Hers are more likely to depict kids being kids -- blowing bubbles, riding scooters, devouring messy bowls of spaghetti. Currie uses settings conducive to their playfulness -- a playground, a beach, a sandbox in their own backyards.

She hopes her whimsical snapshots will help soothe the spirits and lighten the load of Mass. General patients.

"Kids have that sense of wonder and spark in everything they do. They don't let the clouds get in the way," she said. "Maybe they're a distraction. I know when I have troubles on my mind, my children bring me so much joy. Perhaps seeing these kids' faces will cause some sort of distraction for people sitting in the waiting room of a not-so-fun place."

Stefanie Sordillo-Ryan, the Illuminations program manager at Mass. General, said Currie was a natural choice for the project.

"We try to select uplifting, inspiring artwork that challenges the patients' perspective on life," she said. "Susan's work really matched the mission of Illuminations. Her images are really inspiring for both the staff and the patients."

Sordillo-Ryan also said that Constantine's messages enhanced those images.

"One of her messages, 'It's OK to have your bad days,' really stood out to us. We have patients who come here Monday through Friday for X amount of months. When you're going through something like that, you need to be reminded that things aren't always fine and that you'll get through the hard times."