A tour of the unexpected in the entertainment and arts scene
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Karen Neuhard-Forsythe, artist and coordinator of Artist-in-Residence program at the UW Medical Center
What she does: As coordinator of the Artist-in-Residence program at the UW Medical Center for the past four years, Neuhard-Forsythe, 44, arranges individual and group art sessions for hospital patients, their families and visitors.
While she is modest about her position, saying "I stumbled into it," Neuhard-Forsythe is a natural choice. For 13 years she taught high-school art in Riverside, Calif. and is an accomplished artist, with an art degree from the University of Washington, working in metals and black-and-white photography, mostly.
As an instructor, she exposes patients to all types of art, from mixed media and painting, to drawing and book-making. The program uses art as a means of therapy, a way to engage the mind and body creatively and, for at least a couple hours a week, a diversion for patients.
"Art is an opportunity to engage with other people," Neuhard-Forsythe said. "To engage the mind, the hands, the soul. And to make (patients) feel good."
How it works: The hospital's Artist-in-Residence program began in 1987 as a pilot project funded in part by the Washington State Arts Commission (100 percent of the program's funding now comes from UW Medical Center Service League).
Doctors refer patients to Neuhard-Forsythe who, along with her team of volunteers, organize weekly workshops and visits to hospital rooms for patients unable to leave their beds. The program serves the entire hospital, but the majority of the estimated 230 patients and staff who participate each month are from the antepartum (prenatal difficulties), psychiatry, oncology, rehab and organ-transplant units.
Neuhard-Forsythe meets with patients one-on-one to inform them of the program and learn more about their needs, past experiences with art and areas of interest. "It's really just trying to talk to them as a person," she said of her "students," who range from teens to seniors.
Art in action: During a recent art session with about a half-dozen antepartum patients, a narrow, open hallway in the middle of the sixth-floor maternity unit was transformed into an ad hoc art studio. The lesson: how to make accordion books, small journal-style creations that can be filled with pictures or inspirational words. Sheets of paper in every color and sample books, from the simple to ornate, rest on the table. Slowly the women, most several weeks along in their pregnancy, fill the seats around the table and get comfortable before starting their projects.
Before long, they are cutting and pasting and sampling from the famous "art cart," a mobile cart overflowing with supplies, from sparkly paints and markers to brushes, glittery glue and paper.
For many patients, the program is their first foray into the arts. The goal is that it won't be their last.
"I hope that if art hasn't been a part of their life that this will open doors to bring it into their lives," Neuhard-Forsythe said.
A "family" affair: Participants become like family the longer they are in the program, Neuhard-Forsythe said.
"They start out a little quiet at first, but after they've come multiple times," she said, "they are excited, chomping at the bit."
Tina Potterf: 206-464-8214 or tpotterf@seattletimes.com