The Healing Power of Art

I completed this mural in September 2012 for the St. Vincent Cancer Center. Yael Buxbaum and I painted the underlying design for the mural; I then set up the work in the Cancer Center and invited the public to lay the tiles. The work proved a collaboration between doctors, patients, family members, administrative staff, and friends. The space in the lobby became a safe place for those involved in the difficult process of cancer care and treatment, and even those who weren't, to come, relax, and participate in a community artwork.

Mural for St. Vincent's Hospital

As an art therapist and artist, I strongly believe in the healing power of art. This was a mural I painted in the lobby of St. Vincent's Hospital, in memory of Marilyn Glick. It was completed in the summer of 2012.

Glick Eye Institute- Reflection 1 (15' x 5')

Glick Eye Institute- Reflection 2 (15' x 5')

Partnership Bridge (15' by 5')

WESTERN GALILEE HOSPITAL, NAHARIYA
Partnership with Israel — Artist in Residency: Western Galilee
I am currently the Artist-in-Residence for a hospital in the Western Galilee — Indianapolis’ 'sister region' in Israel. Using the theme of “partnership”, I am creating a mural for the hospital’s lobby that I will paint at the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center. By creating this mural in a public space, I hope to welcome my fellow community “partners” into the process; inviting them to share their thoughts on the meaning of true partnerships between people, countries and cultures — and allowing them to see themselves as participants in their community’s special relationship with the citizens of the Western Galilee. I envision a mural that features a bridge — a powerful metaphor for life’s spiritual and physical journeys — traversing a landscape of colorful and diverse “experience” elements. The process of creating this mural will be photographically documented.

Hope Mural (30"x48")

Indianapolis Jewish Community Center Mural

This mural was created on site during my six-month residency at the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center. As staff, members and visitors watched the various images of Jewish Community Center life emerge on the canvas, many stopped to talk—and took time to consider their own notions of community. For some, the mural’s progression brought into clearer focus the ways in which the range of communal life services impacts others; and why being involved in the vibrancy of community is essential to the health of the whole. Regardless of how or where we interact with community, our connections are lasting and profound.

Finding Your Voice, Hasten Hebrew Academy

“Finding Your Voice” is the first mural I created for Indianapolis’ Hasten Hebrew Academy.  Varying artistic pursuits—from dance and music to art and literature— are portrayed using joyous Biblical figures and swirling ancient stories. On the canvas, the images and tales are stirring…compelling children to plant and nourish their own creative yearnings.

It's a Tree of Life, Hasten Hebrew Academy

This mural communicates the centrality of the Torah as the source of the Jewish holiday cycle — and expresses the exhilaration that accompanies the arrival of each milestone. The mural invites the viewer to journey along the scrolled pathway formed by the Torah’s parchment, and to anticipate the revelry — and often the solemnity — that might experienced when immersed in the various seasonal celebrations. (This mural was used as the cover of Kar Ben's, "My First Jewish Calendar.")

Rhapsody in Blue, Hasten Hebrew Academy

“Rhapsody in Blue” is the third of my paintings on the essential elements of Judaism for the Cultural Arts Center of the Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis. The blue string worn on the traditional Tzitzit garment, hakanaf piteel techelet, symbolizes the cosmos and the seas—reflecting the call to the Torah’s commandments. These are the mitzvot that are inexorably woven into the enduring fabric of Jewish history, the Jewish family and Jewish celebration. The mural celebrates the interpersonal commandments, “mitzvot ben adam lichavero”, which underscore the inherent unity of the Jewish nation and its unalterable bond with the Divine as expressed through the Ten Commandments, hewn on the two tablets of stone. The piece was proudly inspired by the school’s Torah Fair, in which students were asked to research and then visually depict Jewish symbols and mitzvot.