Exhibit Shows Healing Arts More Than Just Medical

Usually when people are urged to visit a hospital, the reasons are serious and often cause for concern if not alarm.

 

Go visit Adventist Hinsdale Hospital over the next few weeks for inspiration and delight and, of course, healing.

 

On display is a remarkable art exhibit featuring the works of the Adventist Midwest Hospital employees, medical staff, volunteers and the families of those three groups. This Healing Arts Exhibit features close to 200 artworks from more than 120 artists, most of whom are amateurs, though intermediate-level and professional artists are also represented. All have some affiliation with Adventist Midwest, the regional umbrella group of hospitals.

 

It also awards monetary prizes. The National Arts Program operates in 42 states and 90 different venues, many of them hospitals or civic organizations where the general public can easily view the exhibits. Its purpose is to foster art.

“It’s proven that art can reduce anxiety,” said Sue Kett, healing art consultant for Adventist Midwest Health.

There is a tremendous breadth and variety of work on display — from small but vivid landscape paintings, to portraits to interesting and revealing mixed media pieces and crisp photographs as well as interesting graphic design pieces incorporating scripture. The pieces all have a hopefulness as well as a respect shown to the subject matter so that they are in some way inspirational, which was important or they would not have been selected for the show.

Some works are more obviously the products of talented amateurs and others, including several of the paintings, are the works of professional artists. Various departments in the four hospitals were given the Adventist logo — that swirling, candle-looking piece of graphic art — and then told to create an art work that reflected their department using the logo as a guideline. The submissions are impressive and thought-provoking.

For more information email Kett at sue.kett@ahss.org.

 

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