Written by Lauren Rabb | Curator | TMC Healing Art Program
As we know, this has been a very unusual spring. The Healing Art Program was appropriately sidelined while the hospital did the important work of keeping our community safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. As I write this in early June, we are beginning to resume work. Slowly and carefully.
The TMC Healing Art Program is thrilled to welcome Jeff Lamie, the new vice president and chief development officer for the TMC Foundation.
Lamie is excited for his new role in Tucson and is dedicated to working with the community and TMC supporters who are committed to aiding the hospital’s mission to provide exceptional health care with compassion.
“Health care is the great non-negotiable,” Lamie said. “Every great community has great health care.”
Lamie comes to Tucson with his wife and three rescue dogs from the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation in Sante Fe, New Mexico, where he established a track record of advancing efforts to provide greater philanthropic support for critical programs that serve the community.
He has led fundraising initiatives and capital campaigns at public and private health care and higher education organizations including University of Virginia, St. Vincent Hospital, the Health Center at University of Louisville and Catholic Health Initiatives.
Lamie earned a juris doctorate from the Dickinson School of Law – Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts in history from Rutgers University.
An outdoor enthusiast and art lover, Lamie is already in love with Southern Arizona.
“Tucson is a wonderful city,” Lamie said. “It’s just a wonderful landscape, culturally, and is so beautiful.”
During the onset of the pandemic, TMC musicians were not allowed to play in the hospital. However, on Thursday, May 7, three TMC musicians and their spouses braved the heat to perform an outdoor concert for staff and patients. Held in the courtyard along the adult units, the music could drift into patient rooms and staff hallways. For the musicians, who don’t often play professionally with their spouses (also professional musicians), the concert was a unique opportunity to rehearse and play some special pieces together. Many thanks to Carla Fabris (harp) and her husband Juan Mejia (cello); Ivan Ugorich (violin and ukelele) and his wife Jackie Glazier (ukulele); and Diana Schaible (flute and classical guitar) and her husband Misael Barraza Diaz (classical guitar). The music was beautiful and brightened everyone’s day.
This concert was funded by some very special people: Gary and Jill Sisson, Rica Spivack, Steve and Doris Ratoff, Doris Coris, and Sam Saltzman. We are extremely grateful to them for bringing the music back to TMC for a day.
Speaking of music, we want to thank Molly Murphy for the gift of a piano for Peppi’s House. We greatly appreciate having more opportunity for live music at our inpatient hospice facility.
This health crisis has brought to light how easily live music can be lost from TMC. In order to keep this from happening again, we are looking at ways to fund and install a system for patient rooms that would allow for live streaming concerts. Please contact me if you feel you can contribute in any way. Email me at laurenwrabb@gmail.com.
In the months before the pandemic shut us down, we installed some art in the new TMCOne office on Rita Road, the TMC Outpatient Therapy building across the street from the hospital and some new rooms in Ultrasound. We put up the fabulous Patty Mathes works in Erickson Hall and gave Administration a bit of an update. We installed Judy Jacobs’ paintings of vegetables in Pepper’s Café.
The large Diana Madaras that usually hangs in Ramsay Hall was accidentally damaged (it happens), but has been beautifully repaired by Erma Duran and will hang again soon.
Paul Gold and Greer Warren donated an amazing William Lesch photograph of Gates Pass (pictured on cover page), as well as a fun Ralph Loings photo-realist work from his American diner series. Artist Jaya Miller donated a wonderful work of hand-cut paper on wood, based on a painting by her father.
Artists Murray Keshner donated two watercolors from his personal collection, and Mirle Freel Jr. gave us one of his favorite paintings, “The Power of Humility,” that he created in 1975. Collectors Mike Andrew and Jeanne Pickering donated two major canvases by local artists Jean Stern and Josh Goldberg.
With the assistance of Jan Hastreiter, the estate of Paula Treder gave us a set of wonderful works by the artist Lee Hall. Eileen Graydon Ketchum gave us some Disney sericels and two very cool framed Monopoly games (the San Francisco and San Diego versions) that should bring smiles to our younger patients.
Fingers crossed that all of these works will be on public view soon!
From artist Anita Pinkerton:
[The Healing Art Program] has done a marvelous and awesome job in displaying the art. It is done with so much thought to the needs of the patients as well as reaching out to the visitors in hopes of fulfilling the needs that they may have while visiting their loved ones. I can’t tell you how the power of the art you have displayed in the various parts of the hospital emotionally touched me.
Artist Patty Mathes wrote to tell us this story: Here is a heartwarming side story. I have some friends who often need to visit the doctors at TMC. The wife is very ill with Parkinson’s, but she has been an artist her entire life. They sometimes arrive early so that they can enjoy the healing art together. They always liked to attend art shows and this is how they are able to continue to share their love of art. Thank you again for the important work you are doing. It is so meaningful.