The Gallery of ARTFul Medicine

Hutchinson Metro Campus
Tower 1
1250 Waters Place, Bronx, NY 10461

CURRENT EXHIBITION:

An ARTFul Interpretation of Orthopedics

Past Exhibitions

Boundless Imagination
Creativity in the Time of COVID from Studio in a School NYC

Click the image below to see the full portfolio!

Comfort in the Time of COVID-19

Wilma Bulkin-Siegel, M.D.

Summer 2021

COMFORT IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

WILMA BULKIN SIEGEL, M.D.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic in March 2020, I remember my severe fear of death and major feeling of lack of power because I had no knowledge. I had always felt “Knowledge is Power”.

The “lockdown” immediately put us into isolation, and humans are social beings. My friends too had a panic state with fear. I realized that we were not isolated having the computer and cellphone at hand and so we were beings using modern technology to reach out to others to diminish our isolation.

Doing art has always been therapeutic to take away chaos in thought, and to give me purpose and order.

My first work done was a collage about the corona virus itself. I painted flowers and friends and then I doodled on my iPhone with a children’s application “Draw 4 free”.

March 28, 2020 is the first of this series in which I painted the flowers and a positive word. I have felt education is most profound for memory when the word and picture are together- namely, narrative and visual. The word had to be a positive message and flowers are a message of creativity sexual organs for reproduction.

Covid-19 was a threat of possible extinction of the human being and so this combination of a positive image and positive word was a way for me to look at the world joy rather than fear.

I decided to play a game with my friends and send this message of hope and positivity that would bring comfort to friends and acquaintances which was doing it for me and share this positive silent voice in the morning to help to face the day, days, weeks and year.

So, I began my “game”. It grew close to 100 people that I sent the images to help them to begin the day. My technique was drawing with my finger on the screen the entire face of the iPhone in the beginning. I later switched to my Mini iPad to do the screen painting. Every morning I would send out close to 100 messages to people who depended on the positive message. I learned that some sent out the images to other friends who wanted them. Finally in February 2021 I fell and had an injury. With pain I decided I could not do this every day, so I ended my game. Many wrote to me disappointed. They missed the positive thought of the day.

Behind the Mask COVID-19

Wilma Bulkin Siegel, M.D.

Summer 2021

Studios in the Bronx:

Young Artists from Studio in a School NYC

“From its inception, a cornerstone of our programs have included students working towards an exhibition of their work within their schools and in public and private spaces. I am so pleased to extend the reach of our students into another important institution in New York City, thanks to the partnership with Montefiore, our host for this vibrant example of the work of New York City’s young residents of the Bronx. I am delighted to collaborate with an organization that shares our belief in the power of artistic expression towards learning and healing”.

- Agnes Gund, Studio Founder, Art Collector, and Philantropist

The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein is pleased to present Studios in the Bronx: Young Artists from Studio in a School NYC, an exhibition of 46 vibrant artworks created by children living and learning in the Bronx. These artworks, by students in preschool 3K through 5th grade, were created in public school classrooms transformed into thriving art studios through Studio in a School NYC (“Studio”)’s visual arts programs in partnership with New York City’s Department of Education. Through painting and sculpture, drawings and collage, the art displayed demonstrates the range of media explored by students. Working with Studio’s Artist Instructors, students observed, imagined, and interpreted the people, places and things that make up their lives, learning to look at their own worlds with artists’ eyes.  

“Art is a powerful tool that can help patients and families through challenging circumstances. This exhibition, featuring paintings, sculptures and drawings created by children living and learning in the Bronx through Studio in a School's visual arts programs, has transformed our lobby into a soothing and restorative environment for our patients, staff and students. These are gifted students and their work has helped to humanize the patient experience,” explained Jodi Moise, Director, The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein. 

This exhibition, on view through May 27, demonstrates a new partnership with Montefiore Medical Center and highlights Studio’s deep commitment to providing quality visual arts instruction to the young people, schools, and communities throughout New York City. Studio has been working with schools in the Bronx since its founding in 1977 and today collaborates with more than fifty Bronx-based schools and early childhood education centers each year. At each of these sites, Studio provides art-making experiences that invite children to explore, look, discover, play, create, and reflect. These experiences support the development of cognitive, linguistic, sensory, and social skills. The rewards of this learning are apparent when viewing the exhibition. 

About Studio in a School

Studio in a School fosters the creative and intellectual development of young people through quality visual arts programs directed by professional artists, and collaborates with and enhances the capacity of those who provide and support arts programming for children and youth.  This mission is realized through two organizational divisions: 

Studio in a School NYC provides quality visual arts instruction during the school day and after school, serving 32,000+ Pre-K through high school students each year in partnership with nearly 200 public schools and community-based organizations. 

Studio Institute performs in-depth research, develops curriculum, identifies best practices, and disseminates these efforts in New York City and nationally. 

Signs of Compassion

Created by Miggs Burroughs

Signs of Compassion: A Tribute to the Poem by Emily Dickinson

The Deaf and hearing worlds have two wholly distinct cultures and languages.  In fact, The Deaf community identifies as a linguistic and cultural minority – one that has been been historically oppressed and misunderstood. To demonstrate how compassion, learning and understanding can bridge gaps between cultures and languages, the new exhibit Signs of Compassion presents portraits of the hearing community signing each phrase of Emily Dickinson’s poem of the same title in American Sign Language (ASL) in conjunction with video of Deaf poets expressing the work.

 Signs of Compassion drives home the point that the Deaf community does not subscribe to conventional notions of needing to be “fixed” or rehabilitated,” according to Jody Prysock, MS, CI, who compiled the video footage for the exhibit.  “By Deaf poets sharing their interpretations of Emily Dickinson’s poem, we honor the beauty, grace, and complexity of ASL, and celebrate the rich culture of Deaf people,” Ms. Prysock said.

Signs of Compassion runs from May 2019 through October 2019 at Montefiore Medical Center, Hutchison Metro Center, 1250 Waters Place, Tower One, in the Bronx, NY.  Signs of Compassion features 30 16”x 16” black and white lenticular portraits created by Westport, CT photographer Miggs Burroughs.  In a lenticular photo, two images are embedded into each frame, and an image changes to the other as the viewer walks by, approximating real time movement.

For more information, please go to: https://www.bronxnet.org/watch/videos/7547/?topicId=14.