Written by Lauren Rabb | Curator | TMC Healing Art Program
Art PROGRAM Healing
We’ve made it to Summer 2021, and the Healing Art Program is back to work! We are so grateful to the many people who recognize the importance of what we do to make the hospital a happier environment for patients, visitors and staff. Here are some of the highlights of the past six months.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography deserves its own discussion at TMC, as half of the art we install is photography – the use of which is donated by very special artists who allow us to print at will. We now work with more than fifty photographers, so naming them all is a challenge, but I want to mention some new ones to the program: Martin Baker, Kristin Bendigo, James Capo, Greg McKelvey, John Miranda, and Chris Wesselman. Additionally, a special shout-out to Dr. Larry Hanelin, our own physician of nuclear medicine who will be retiring at the end of July. His work is all over the hospital, but he recently donated the use of a series of dance images he took in Sabino Canyon with infrared photography. They are spectacular, and will be installed in Booth Hall once the renovation of the hallway is complete.
James Capo, Chiricahua Leopard Frog
Marianne Leis, Sittin Pretty
Larry Simkins, On the Arizona Trail
ART
A number of artists donated their work, and we really appreciate it. Katie Harrell – who spent the pandemic in California – painted a gorgeous beach scene and sent it to us. Judy Jacobs donated two more works from her fruits and vegetables series that will soon be hung in Diabetes Education. Paul Hopman sent us another horse portrait, bringing us to three Hopman horses in the Palliative Care conference room.
workplaces before we got there. One of these is the second floor of the main hospital. Yes, there are offices on a second floor – at least over part of the building – and these offices were accessed by two long stretches of narrow hallway with nothing on the walls. Now these hallways are lovely – one filled with garden giclées by Cita Scott, and the other with dreamy plant close-ups from the lens of Vicky Stromee.
Marcia Sabesin donated a mixed media painting by Joshua Olivera, one of my favorite artists. Kim and Don Bourn gave us more art for children that they commissioned years ago for their own daughters. And Dr. and Mrs. Melvin Roberts donated a landscape by Southern Arizona artist Judith Bateman that is bound to be a fan favorite once it is installed in the hospital.
We took advantage of the pandemic to install art in some less public, but equally important, corners of TMC – areas that are seen almost exclusively by staff, but were dreary
Speaking of hidden corners of TMC, there is also a basement. Much of it is used for storage, but the SIM lab is there as well. This is a high-tech training area with realistic “dummies” that doctors and other staff can use for training. It has now been enhanced with abstract paintings by Josh Goldberg, Jean Stern and Mirle Freel.
Other installation highlights include animal photographs in Pediatric Therapies and a mix of art (with speciallyrequested photos from Vicky Stromee’s Envisioning Solitude series of moon images) in Clinical Research.
Katie Harrell, Crystal Cove
Jaya Miller painting in Erickson Hall
Judy Bateman painting from Dr. Mel Roberts
Josh Goldberg, Nocturne
Nancy Brorby watercolors in Audiology lobby
Philanthropic Donors
A note of many, many thanks to the following community members who have stepped up these past six months to support the Healing Art Program: Christopher C. Chen, Doris Coris, Jacquelyn and Ron Feller, Roseann Milano, Michael J. Reynolds, and Gary and Jill Sisson. Some of these gifts also support the renovation of Life Gain Park – which will have a stage for performances. Spearheaded by Marlies Terpning, this exciting project will benefit everyone at TMC and we can’t wait for the official groundbreaking – anticipated this fall.
Introducing Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation
The Healing Art Program was pleased to sponsor a special Zoom “deepdive” into Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation, or RAS, for our hospital physical therapists. RAS is a method using rhythm and music to help patients who have lost muscle movement, and is a particularly useful tool in gait training. Special thanks to Caitlin Hebb of Boston-based MedRhythms for running our presentation, and to Molly Murphy for the timely gift of a metronome that will be utilized by Outpatient Physical Therapies here at TMC.
MUSIC
We mourn the loss of long-time TMC harpist Adrienne Lewy, who passed away this spring. Adrienne played in the ICU and at Peppi’s House for many years. She will be missed.
We are also sad to see Eduardo Costa leave the program, and wish him the very best. Eduardo was one of the founding musicians at TMC, and a world-renowned classical guitarist – we were lucky to have him! He is beloved by staff, and yes, he is still available to play department and private events.
We are pleased to welcome our newest musician, Jesus Alva Gonzales. If you are a patron of the restaurant Villa Peru you may have heard his amazing violin performances. Jesus is a graduate from the National University of Music in Lima, Perú, and began his studies as a violinist at the age of five. He has participated in various international music festivals and performed in New York City, Germany, Russia, Brazil and Egypt.
Jesus Alva Gonzales, Carnegie Hall
F OUND A TION
5301 E. Grant Road
Tucson, AZ 85712-2805
FINAL NOTE
You may know that most decisions about artwork in the hospital are made by the Art Acquisitions Committee. This season we say goodbye to Pamela Harlan, who has served on the committee since the beginning. Her sophisticated eye kept us in line. We also will miss Kate Phillips, who with her husband Sheldon Trubatch, is moving back to Washington, D.C. to be closer to family and friends.
Sheldon has been an active member of the Healing Art Program as a member of our Strategic Planning Committee since the beginning, so we will miss his wise counsel (literally –Sheldon is a lawyer).
At the same time, the Strategic Planning Committee has expanded this year. This important committee steers our work and brings us expertise that keeps us always improving. The newest TMC staff members on the committee are Molly Griffis (Manager of Patient Relations and Patient Advocacy) and Angela Pittenger (part of the TMC Communications Team
and one of our donating artists) – they join Kathy Neff (Adult Acute Therapy Manager) and Stacie Wood (Perinatal Safety Officer) as hospital representatives. We are also pleased to welcome new community members Rica Spivack, Gloria Linden and Taylor Rascher.
If you are interested in supporting the TMC Healing Art Program, let’s talk!
Contact Lauren Rabb, Curator at laurenwrabb@gmail.com, (520) 444-0363 or Jeffrey Lamie, Vice President and Chief Development Officer of the TMC Foundation at jeffrey.lamie@tmcaz. com, (520) 324-2501.