Arts & Culture

'Unprecedented Journey' Exhibit Explores the Intersection of Art and Health

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image of painted doctors coats
image of art in gallery

LEXINGTON, KY. (April 12, 2021) — UK Arts in HealthCare partnered with CREATE and the Lexington Art League on an exhibition entitled, “Unprecedented Journey: Intersection – Where Arts and Health Meet.”

The exhibit, which fills nearly the entire Loudon House, located at 209 Castlewood Drive in Lexington, is comprised of three sections of artwork inspired by and/or created by healthcare professionals. The first section is the result of an open call in which artists transformed the quintessential “white coat” worn by physicians. Artists were invited to view the white coat as a blank canvas to express and illustrate humanity of healers.

“In celebrating our physicians and healthcare providers through art, we illuminate them not only for their talent but also their identity as members of our community,” said Sara Brown, UK HealthCare graduate medical education coordinator for general surgery residents who curated the physician’s white coats and ArtsCAFE portions of the exhibit and also runs the ArtsCAFE program for surgery residents.  “It is our hope that in doing so, we may support them as they have supported us.”

The second section of the exhibit features art made by health care professionals.

“In this way, we are not only exploring clear and present ways in which creativity, expression and the arts intersect, but we are also exploring an essential human intersection,” said Brown. “It is the point where the individual meets the human need to create and to ultimately express themselves by sharing the produce of that creativity with their fellow human beings.”

The third part of the exhibition includes art created by participants of the ArtsCAFE, a program that provides UK HealthCare’s general surgery residents an outlet for creative expression and community as well as a way to challenge them in an alternative environment.

The exhibition will be on display at the Loudon House until April 23 and is free and open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays, Noon to 5 p.m.

A number of the pieces on display will be sold via silent auction. Click here for more information on the exhibit and silent auction.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.