When I was selected to exhibit my art at VCU Healthcare Center in Richmond, VA. I did not expect the encounters and expressions that I received from everyone I met. I have many comments from visitors and patients of the Health Center about how my paintings enhanced their feelings. Through my exhibit I learned about the Art in Healthcare program and look forward to any time that I can exhibit in any of it's member health Centers. It is a wonderful feeling to hear about how much my paintings become a part of so many lives. I am preparing more positive expressions for future exhibits wherever they may be. Rufus Norman, artist.
In 2007, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia collaborated with the Society for the Arts in Healthcare to co-host a highly successful educational event at the College. Although a formal component of the Society's annual conference, this event--with its prominent artists presenting on medicine-informed painting, poetry, and fiction--also attracted a large local audience of very diverse interests, from academic to more patient-centered perspectives. As Chair of the College's Section on Medicine and the Arts, I worked closely with the estimable Executive Director of the Society, Anita Boles, to fund, stage, and present this ambitious arts-in-medicine event. In every step of this collaborative endeavor, I found Anita and other key Society leaders to be perfect partners in every way--inspiring, creative, and thoroughly professional. From continuing discussions since that time, it's clear to me that the Society has strengthened still further in recent years and I would strongly encourage anyone considering either membership or collaboration.
After working for many years in isolation, I was introduced to the Society for the Arts in Healthcare in 1993. To my surprise there were others doing similar work who truly understood what I was talking about, no explanations needed! The Society has been the primary force and resource for my work in this ever-expanding, exciting field that is making such a difference in humanizing healthcare.
The Society for Arts in Healthcare is a fabulous organization! They've put all the people together that believe in the power of art in one place! So refreshing to experience the absolute power of creativity ... and all the benefits too.The endless stories from caregivers, patients and their loved ones of the healing properties of any and all arts are proof of the necessity of this ortganization. Thanks from the bottom of my heart for all they do!
I found SAH by accident. One day at my health psychology internship I was standing at the copier and I saw a flyer in the recycle bin. I went to the website and I found my home. I am both a Drama Therapist and a Health Psychologist, SAH allowed me to be both, and not one or the other. That was over a decade ago. I am now a professor and get to teach courses in Arts and Medicine. I use the website for resources, and the conferences for professional development and networking. I would strongly encourage anyone with an interest in the arts and healing to become a member of this wonderfully supportive organization.
If it were not for the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, I would not be were I am in my career, today. They are a leading international organization of the field, creating a resource-filled umbrella to work under and in partnership. They offer resources, information and educational/training opportunities for all ages and experience in the field (from students to retirees). Additionally, the diversity of the types of members the Society is currently bringing in, and trying to expand out to include, is ourstanding: health care providers, architects, artists, administrators, students, public health personnel, clinical staff, therapists (creative and the arts), and many more. This organization has never stopped driving this field forward.
I have been involved with the Society for the arts in healthcare as a member since it was founded. When we first began our field was tiny, and those who came to meetings were thrilled to be able to share with others in the field their problems and solutions to problems in the field. Over the years, the Society has taken an important role in helping to address significant problems in the healthcare field such as educating people through the arts about Diabetes Type II and helping healthcare facilities to retain staff through "Caring for Caregiver" programs. Recently the organization has been working to bring healthcare and arts professionals together to share "best practices" in educating and treating people at high risk for or living with HIV in Africa. The Society has a significant number of members working with people living with cancer, frail elders, people with mental health issues and children with serious illness. The Society for the Arts in Healthcare is devoted to bringing a higher quality of life to patients, profession and non-professional caregivers, and to people at risk.
Molti dei miei colleghi, come me, sono da tutte le parti della comunità. Siamo svantaggiati, il basso reddito, in stato di gravidanza, in libertà vigilata, e affamati. Siamo sempre alla ricerca di speranza. Stiamo cercando per quel breve scorcio di sole all'orizzonte. Via Tech è che la luce. Si prega di sostenere Via Tech e contribuire a portare più luce su quel orizzonte.
I have been volunteering in the field of arts in medicine for the past few years and the Society has been a huge help in providing information and resources. The wealth of knowledge and breadth of experience that members of the SAH contribute to the field of Arts in Healthcare is incredible, and their dedication to promoting the field is unrivaled. The folks there have helped tremendously in the area of providing knowledge and contacts to assist our group in volunteer efforts and fundraising projects. Really great nonprofit doing awesome work to promote the arts as a holistic part of overall health and wellness!
The Society provides a great service to the healthcare arena. The incorporation of the arts in the healthcare is an invaluable contribution to the overall wellness of people. The Society provides wonderful opportunities for artists and healthcare providers alike.
The Society for the Arts in Healthcare is the national advocate for the use of the arts in advancing health in clinical and non-clinical settings as well as in the training of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. The Society brings together the diverse array of people who work in arts in health such as artists, creative arts therapists, architects, interior designers, doctors, nurses, therapists, hospital administrators, arts administrators, and educators. They work to advance the professionalism of the field, conduct research, establish partnerships and provide timely updates on new advances. The Society also is a leader in developing international partnerships to further expand the use of the arts in health and provide insights into emerging trends and ideas.
I am an Expressive Arts practitioner, new to the DC area. I heard about and The Society for Arts and Healthcare from longtime member Judy Rollins. I surfed the site for about 30 minutes before becoming a member. The practitioner listings, grant listings as well as the Special Interest Groups have been very helpful.
The Society for the Arts in Healthcare is an ambassador, mentor, resource organization, grantor, advocate, educator, and network builder. It draws on the extensive expertise and collective knowledge of its staff and members to serve a wide variety of stakeholders successfully and with the utmost sensitivity and integrity. As the bridges spanning the fields of art and health become shorter and stronger, the Society's unique competencies will be even more important, and its position even more central to artists, medical professionals and researchers around the world.
I’ve been in the arts in healthcare field for over 30 yrs now and very involved with the Society for the Arts in Healthcare since 1993. I can’t image working in this field without the Society. SAH is absolutely central to my life’s work, which has always been about bringing healing arts experiences to others. We who are the Society know, down to the smallest molecular level, how the arts heal, keep us sane, make us whole and our strongest desire is to share that with others. SAH is THE organization, nationally and internationally, that brings that, and all of us, together, whether you are an artist, arts therapist, arts administrator, doctor, nurse, etc. SAH is our home, where we come to be renewed, reminded, restored, through the arts, so we can give that back again, to all we serve. I cannot recommend this organization highly enough.