 |
 |
|
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
|
|
|
OUR APPROACH |
|
|
ARTS AND THE HEART CAMPAIGN |
|
|
NEWS & NOTABLE |
|
|
GET INVOLVED |
|
Discovering Knowledge
The Foundation’s knowledge discovery initiatives combine two approaches: 1) the use of traditional research methods and 2) collaborations between accomplished experts from the realms of science, medicine and public health with artists and others for whom creative engagement is a life’s work. These engagements deliver new insights into both the artistic and the healing process, as well as the links between them.
Research
Through funded research, roundtable discussions, and commissioned papers, the Foundation will explore the linkages between art, creativity, illness and healing. As a first step, FAH has conducted an initial review of journals, organizations, research and individuals, mainly in the U.S., that identifies critical elements and aspects of the art and healing landscape.
Collaborations
To better understand the knowledge needed by healthcare professionals to employ the creative method in the process of healing, FAH both develops and sponsors collaborations between the medical and art worlds.
ArtLab, lead by Anna Willieme, M.F.A., and partnering with Massachusetts General Hospital is just one example of how understanding the linkages between creativity and medicine can benefit physicians traditionally rooted in scientific methods.
In spring of 2007, the ArtLab launched a series of workshops for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) residents, sponsored by the New York foundation for the Arts and funded by FAH and MGH. The workshops used art and meditation to enhance participants’ visual diagnostic and communication skills. Based on discussions of art works, presentation and practice of basic meditation concepts as well as drawing, writing, observational and sensory exercises, the month long program proved effective in increasing the residents’ visual observation skills.
