As part of our mission to bring arts and humanities into the medical world, we are proud to sponsor the Kite Exhibit currently on display in Jefferson Alumni Hall and the 2nd Floor of the Library. Here is how the artist herself explains her understanding of the healing properties of art and its value in a medical setting.

Emilie S. Passow, Ph.D.
Visitng Faculty of Medical Humanities

The Arts: Aerobics for the Spirit!
Artist's Statement
Mary Anne Bartley
Site Specific Installation and Solo Exhibition
September 2004 - February 2005
Thomas Jefferson University

Physicians have long been viewed as powerful healers on the treacherous battlefield of life. Their image--entrusted with the care of others and often mantled in the cloak of the divine--evolves with science and the art of medicine itself. Physicians are armed with incredible powers to heal, yet the complex relationships between patients, insurance and care providers has lagged far behind.

Time is the enemy and stress is the mantra of our time.

Caring for others evokes powerful emotions and effective therapy can assume many forms, medical and non-medical alike. Music has been shown to trigger the release of endorphins, the body_s natural pain killers. A Beautiful painting, a favorite song, a poem, or a good laugh can do the same. Art helps meet the needs of the whole person, not just the body. If we use the combined abilities of the mind and spirit as well as the body, we can heal faster and more completely.

Art is the pathway to this objective. Art establishes the basic human truths that are the key to the concept of ourselves. Art is the intersection of the holistic trinity of mind, body and spirit.

Since the image of a physician is rooted in the medical school experience, it is important to begin here.

Thomas Jefferson University

Centered within the cradle of American Independence, scant blocks from the Liberty Bell, Jefferson Medical College has a rich history spanning 180 years. Jefferson has awarded more than 26,000 medical degrees and has more living graduates than any other medical school in the United States.

This exhibit is designed to highlight the important role that the arts and humanities play in medical education. Traversing the university campus, and culminating in a flotilla of healing kites, each phase of the installation is designed to engage students and faculty in a continuous dialogue, exploring the value of the visual arts, poetry, literature and music.

Highly interactive in scope, the exhibit will welcome responses from students and faculty which might then be incorporated within the exhibit.

Collaboration of Poet and Artist

This exhibition features the collaboration of two colleagues begun in dialogue at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Section on Medicine and the Arts. The conversation continues as each responds to the work of the other in poetic and visual "Responsorial Psalms".

Emanuel E. Garcia, MD is a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of the creative and performing artist. Recent publications include psychological investigations of Gustav Mahler, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin.

Mary Anne Bartley is Artist-in-Residence at Villanova University, WHYY of Greater Philadelphia; Artist/instructor at Drexel University's College of Medicine and College of Nursing, and is the founding Vice-Chair of the Section on Medicine and the Arts of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.