Healing Arts at Lifespan

"If the purpose of art is to nourish the spirit, what more appropriate place to find it than in a hospital, where our spirit may encounter its most critical moments." - Eileen Lawton, New Jersey Council on the Arts

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We believe that everyone is an artist; everyone has a creative spirit. We're in touch with it as children, but as adults we tend to forget about our creativity. If the Art on Rounds staff can touch this creative place in someone, allowing them to reclaim it at a time when they are facing a medical crisis, it can be a tremendous healing influence spiritually, if not physically.

The Art on Rounds staff serve as artists and teachers and help patients use art to express their feelings and provide a creative and emotional outlet that may help their physical healing as well. This program is at both Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital.

Through art, patients and their families are able to express themselves creatively. Families enter into a special relationship, connecting on a level that doesn't need permission. Artistic collaboration removes the differences of age, race, gender and disease; student and teacher become teacher and student and space and time are altered.

Each week, an art teacher visits the unit with a different museum reproduction. The teacher discusses the artist and the work of art, while encouraging participation from patients. Under the guidance of these trained professionals, patients are introduced to a variety of art materials. The patients then create their own work of art using the reproduction as inspiration. Still-life setups, slides and other resources are used to inspire and motivate patients. The instructor will visit patients who are unable to leave their beds.

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