This book offers a framework for collaboration between art museum educators and health professionals. It includes advice on selecting meaningful and provocative works of art; models of responsive workshop design, compelling descriptions of gallery experiences; and references to supporting medical literature
Activating the Art Museum: Designing Experiences for the Health Professions, the first book on this subject, offers an argument for collaboration between educators in art museums and healthcare professionals. Through descriptions of teaching practices, the authors bring us into the galleries along with participants to demonstrate the value of art museums in supporting humanism in healthcare for the benefit of both practitioners and their patients.
It includes advice on selecting meaningful and provocative works of art; models of responsive workshop design; compelling descriptions of gallery experiences; references to supporting medical literature; and the voices of medical students, physicians, and other health professionals.
Chapters address key topics including tolerating ambiguity; empathy; interprofessional teamwork; confronting bias; the power of story; caring for the spirit; wellbeing and mindfulness.
This inspiring and practical resource, written by three respected museum educators, is grounded in their experience with multiple individual and institutional partnerships and in designing hundreds of gallery experiences for healthcare trainees and practitioners. This book will be valuable to educators, leaders, and policy-makers in museums and health care. These readers, as well as general audiences with an interest in art and health will be inspired by the potential of art museums to activate our empathetic imaginations and remind us of our shared humanity.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Foreword: Lisa Howley, American Association of Medical Colleges
Preface
Chapter 1: Why Art Museums?
Chapter 2: Thinking in the Art Museum
Chapter 3: Cultivating Empathy
Chapter 4: The Power of Story
Chapter 5: Strengthening Interprofessional Teams
Chapter 6: Confronting Bias
Chapter 7: Caring for the Spirit
Chapter 8: Nurturing Wellness
Chapter 9: Practicing Mindfulness
Chapter 10: Building a Community of Practice
Afterword: Kaywin Feldman, National Gallery of Art
Recommended Reading
About the Authors