When it comes to the performing arts, very few metropolitan areas can upstage Houston. It’s one of only five cities with nationally known performing companies in all four disciplines: opera, ballet, orchestral music and theater. More than 10,000 performing artists make Houston the nation’s thirdlargest home to working artists. The Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM), established in 2000, helps preserve this rich artistic heritage by providing high-quality, accessible health care and health education to our community’s performing artists and to visiting artists from around the world. Methodist is the only institution of its kind to offer a comprehensive program designed specifically to meet the unique medical needs of performers, who rely on physical dexterity and mental acuity to entertain and inspire audiences. The revolutionary CPAM program combines the talents of more than 100 Methodist-affiliated clinicians and physician-scientists, along with nurses and other medical experts, to provide specialty and preventive care to artists and to lead research that seeks to improve human performance in the arts and to harness the potential of the arts in therapy and rehabilitation. This one-of-a-kind program is supported through philanthropic partnerships that help advance its comprehensive excellence. Benefactors include Mr. and Mrs. Jack S. Blanton, the Chao family, The Cockrell Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry E. Finger, Mr. and Mrs. Rodney H. Margolis, Mr. and Mrs. Michael E. Shannon, Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Simmons and many others. CPAM also works to integrate the arts into the hospital environment by providing an abundant repertoire of arts performances at Methodist for the enjoyment of staff, patients and visitors. One of the most current offerings, The 2013 Margaret Alkek Williams Crain Garden Performance Series, is generously underwritten by the Alkek and Williams Foundation and provides free concerts by an array of artists. “The show must go on” typifies the challenges inherent in treating artists who live to perform and perform for a living. With continued support, CPAM will ensure that the curtain never closes on Houston’s world-class performing arts.
MethodistHealth.com/Foundation
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