Theme

Students for Health Humanities presents our health humanities exhibition, Aurora, as inspired by the beauty of the northern and southern lights. The polar lights illuminate the night sky, connecting observers from oceans and continents apart. In the same vein, our art show illustrates people’s brightest hopes to their darkest struggles to foster compassion in healthcare. We united artists around the world to shed light on their stories, reflections, and perceptions related to health/well-being. People are not defined by their culture, profession, or diagnosis. Aurora seeks to encourage everyone to see the light in people and always be a light for each other.

​

Artists

Our artists represent the following countries--United States, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Argentina, Italy, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, and France--and contribute to the healthcare system in more countries like South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya. This special community holds backgrounds including but not limited to: ​

• Actor

• Artist (dance, oil painting, mosaic, animation, murals, printmaking, sculpture, film, and one of our artists, Anmol Mathur, is the first fluid digital artist in the world as verified by the Guinness World Records)

• Art Therapist

• Caregiver

• Certified Listener Poet

• Clinical Supervisor

• Drama Therapist

• Educator (elementary school, medical school, museum)

• Film critic

• Journalist

• Licensed Professional Counselor

• Nurse

• Performance activist

• Physician

• Screenwriter

• Social worker

• Student (BA, BS, BFA, MA, PA, PhD, MD, MFA) 

• Traumatologist

​

Several artworks were created individually and others are collaborations:

• In "Keepers of the House," eight housekeepers at Duke Hospital and Duke Regional Hospital talk about their special human relationships with patients and the ways in which they believe their work contributes to healing.  Their work may bring a measure of dignity and connection to people who are sick, vulnerable, and away from their familiar homes. 

• "Our Creative Community" was created in the Open Art Studio at Baylor University Medical Center available to patients, family members, and staff. They may have no prior art making experience but with the guidance of an art therapist and their community of peers many walk away saying, "I too am an artist."

• "The Choreography of Care" highlights the communities of support within healthcare, the diversity and resilience of the people, putting a human face to a place where many are feeling forgotten. Inspired by the blended experiences of three dancers, one a physician and the others both cancer survivors, "The Choreography of Care" invited all staff at Unity Health Toronto to think about their profession in new ways and collaborate as a team in hopes of increasing a sense of connectedness across these sites and communities beyond.

• "Window Theatre," is a creative aging project by Steven Licardi and Courtney Surmanek who wanted to keep seniors connected during the pandemic. From an interview with Robbie Harris on "Radio IQ," they said: "We start off and we lead the folks into a breathing or grounding exercise,'  so breathing in and out, sometimes with imagery.  We've used the imagery of flying; taking flight and then landing, was just a way to bring us all together to maybe settle our souls a little bit, because there's a lot of tension and energy around. So, just allowing space for breath and then we move into a playful game. We also use song and so, the poetry and the song, we try to draw from the region.  Since we’re in Appalachia one poet that we've drawn on is Wendell Berry."

 

Note: Our curation committee received many submissions but could only highlight a few. The selection below are those that could not have been physically showcased at a specific chapter's exhibition. It also includes a couple highlights from some in-person exhibitions that were hosted by our individual chapters.