Monday 25 November 2019

Wholeness in Action: Arts and Health Month Spotlights AMA’s 2019 Conference Theme

by Dick Averns

On the heels of the recent Alberta Museums Association (AMA) conference,
As a Whole: Well-being, Health, and Museums, it’s refreshing to learn that November is recognized in many communities as Arts and Health Month. The goals for this event, as noted by Arts Health Network Canada, are “to promote the integration of the arts—including literary, performing, and visual arts and design—into a wide variety of healthcare and community settings for therapeutic, educational, and expressive purposes.” 

Leading the way in Alberta is Edmonton, with Mayor Don Iveson issuing a City Proclamation on November 1. This was presented at the McMullen Gallery, located at University of Alberta Hospital, by Councillor Jon Dziadyk.

For the proclamation launch, speakers in addition to Councillor Dziadyk represented a wide range of constituents, including Tyler Sherard, Executive Director of the Friends of University Hospitals (the managing organization for McMullen Gallery); Amelda Foster, Executive Director of the University of Alberta Hospitals (UAH); Sparrow Grace, a musician and staff artist at UAH; Meaghan Patterson, Executive Director of the AMA; and myself, Dick Averns, an exhibiting artist in the current McMullen Gallery show, This Art Makes Me Feel….


This Art Makes Me Feel... at McMullen Gallery.1
Image courtesy of Ellen Cunningham.
Adrian Stimson, Buffalo Boy, 2004.
Image courtesy of Dick Averns.

















I highlight these speakers not by way of making a laundry list, but to illustrate the degree of commitment towards a genuinely interdisciplinary collaboration. Politicians, health executives, museum professionals, and artists came together for the benefit of broader communities—wholeness in action!

The gathering also included representatives from the Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton Textiles Group, the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, CRIPSiE (Collaborative Radically Integrated Performers Society in Edmonton), and the Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine program at the U of A. These constituents all demonstrate the breadth and depth of practices situated in Edmonton, and further highlight the relevance of the programming at McMullen Gallery.

The activities and initiatives at McMullen Gallery are a cogent example for how to embody designations such as Arts and Health Month as everyday practices. For those who attended the AMA’s 2019 Conference, McMullen Gallery may ring a bell as the host of the pre-conference program.

During the pre-conference, delegates saw Integrated Art Collections Placements in the University of Alberta Hospital, visited the McMullen Gallery, and undertook activities presented by the Artists on the Wards program staff. The pre-conference program was convened by Ellen Cunningham, Collections Manager at McMullen / Friends of University Hospitals; Chrystal Plante, Indigenous Coordinator for the Stollery Awasisak Indigenous Health Program; and Shirley Serviss, Staff Literary Artist with the Friends of University Hospitals/Artists on the Wards Program.


Touring the Integrated Arts Placements at the U of A Hospitals.
Image courtesy of Dick Averns.
Pre-conference workshop at the U of A Hospitals.
Image courtesy of Dick Averns.

















Attendees learned from Ellen about the incredible collection of 2,000 artworks owned by the Friends of University Hospitals, many of which are in curated displays throughout the hospital in public, patient, and employee settings. Touring the site afforded firsthand experience of displayed artworks, including visits to an Indigenous family room for patient visitors and an Aboriginal Gathering room replete with murals and daily smudging ceremonies.

Turning to McMullen Gallery, the venue was created in 1986 as a purpose-built art gallery and is located adjacent to one of the hospital’s main entrances. Regular exhibits afford what Chrystal described as “beauty and lightness at a time when everything else in the hospital may be less so, or more challenging.” CARFAC fees are available for exhibiting artists, the Gallery accepts submissions, and a look at its exhibition history indicates a strong program supporting the ethos referenced by Tyler Sherard of “hospitals as living museums.”  

Sanctuary at McMullen Gallery, featuring work
by Noemi de Bruijn and Julya Hajnoczky.2
Image courtesy of Ellen Cunningham.
This Art Makes Me Feel... at McMullen Gallery.3
Image courtesy of Ellen Cunningham.

















Complementing these initiatives is the incredible Artists on the Wards program supported by five professional artists, all employed on .5 FTE contracts, delivering personalized artistic experiences to patients on the wards. A mix of literary, visual art, and musical activities are offered, providing spirited, meditative, and holistic experiences for patients and families during times when conventional medicine may not nourish all needs.

In conclusion, the high level of collection management, exhibitions, and active programming is unique within Alberta Health Services settings. These initiatives, along with awareness opportunities such as Arts and Health Month, stand as models for adoption elsewhere and as evidence of the value and benefits for functioning As a Whole.


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Author Dick Averns is the Curatorial Coordinator for the University of Calgary Founders’ Gallery, located at The Military Museums in Calgary. For the 2019 AMA Conference, he was both a member of Conference Program Committee and Keynote Moderator. He is a practising artist, regular reviewer of art for publications including Canadian Art and Galleries West, and he also works part-time as Engagement Coordinator for CARFAC Alberta. 

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1. Pictured (left to right): 
- Dick Averns, Canadian Airman Duff, 2009
- Karen Brownlee, Abstract Grain Elevators #1, 2002
- Tim Okamura, The Elevator, 2003
- Lori Lukasewich, Good Dog, 2010
- Gloria Mok, Landscape of the Mind #3, 1993 

2. Paintings by Noemi de Bruijn (left to right):
Adirondack, Homesick, Boathouse, Triumvirate, and A House on A Rock

Sculpture by Julya Hajnoczky:
On Plinths: Glenmore Reservoir 1, Glenmore Reservoir 2
On Wall: Pacific Rim 3, Pacific Rim 4, Barrier Lake 2, Kokanee Creek

3. Pictured (left to right): 
- Lori Lukasewich, Good Dog, 2010
- Gloria Mok, Landscape of the Mind #3, 1993
- Eric Moschopedis, A Body for Bears, A Body for Lightning (A Quilt for Danny Kelly), 2012
- John Hall, WHAM!, 2010
- David Svendsen, Incommunicado, 1991
- Dawn Detarando, Prairie Rubbers, 2009

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