UA Museum Brightens Walls on Phoenix Biomedical Campus
The current exhibit, displaying the work of artist David Tineo, conveys the message that "society shall overcome its troubles through love and hope," says W. James Burns, director of the UA Museum of Art.

UA College of Medicine – Phoenix
April 3, 2017

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According to artist David Tineo, a UA alumnus, “Our world has come to a crossroads. Borders, race, religion, skin color and sexual preference can no longer exist as barriers, for we are a great woven human tapestry.”
According to artist David Tineo, a UA alumnus, “Our world has come to a crossroads. Borders, race, religion, skin color and sexual preference can no longer exist as barriers, for we are a great woven human tapestry.”


The Program of Art in Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix started shortly after the Health Sciences Education Building opened less than five years ago.

"There was this beautiful new building with all these walls with blank spaces," said W. James Burns, director of the UA Museum of Art.

Staff from the museum went to Phoenix from Tucson and determined that bringing exhibits to the Phoenix Biomedical Campus would introduce the museum to Phoenix residents and offer Arizona artists an opportunity to show their work.

Initially, Burns wanted to offer visitors and medical students who attend classes in the building "a safe space for thoughtful reflection."

Soon after the first installment went up, Cynthia Standley saw an additional opportunity for students.

Having artwork on the campus "offers everyone the freedom for artistic exploration to observe, interpret, reflect and gain insight into various perspectives on the world," she said.

Standley developed the Program of Art in Medicine, which offers structured observation of artworks and discussion of fine-arts concepts. The goal, she said, is to "improve students' visual diagnostic and communication skills to ultimately enhance patient care."

She said the art challenges existing perspectives and also provides "a source of enjoyment amid the rigors of medical education."

The current exhibit, which displays the colorful artwork of David Tineo, is thematically based on a timely issue: global borders.

"Tineo's works are almost like spoken words," Burns said. "People embracing one another in the midst of tragedy. Tineo conveys the message that our society shall overcome its troubles through love and hope. His works illustrate a recognition that truth and justice will ultimately prevail."

Burns recalled a moment he shared with Tineo, an alumnus of the UA School of Art, in which the artist said, "Our world has come to a crossroads. Borders, race, religion, skin color and sexual preference can no longer exist as barriers, for we are a great woven human tapestry."

About a year and a half into the project, Burns met Standley. The partnership between the museum and the college is a great fit, Burns said.

"We try to tailor the exhibits, so they can be used by the faculty and students as an opportunity for new engagement outside the classroom," he said. "The exhibits lend themselves to humanities in medicine. It's exciting because there are a lot of possibilities."

The art, displayed in the 268,000-square-foot building, has featured works by Arizonans Susan Berger, Scott Baxter and Sheila Pitt.

Baxter photographed Arizona ranchers, while Pitt's exhibit, "Quadriplegia," showed her transformation as a relief printmaker before and after a horse accident that left her with only limited use of her left arm and hand.

Berger's exhibit features black-and-white photographs of Martin Luther King Drives throughout the United States. She traveled the country, documenting what life is like on Martin Luther King Drive. Although she did not photograph all 900 streets named in honor of the civil rights leader, she came to understand the movement of people and cultures in America.

"Sometimes MLK Drive was a Hispanic neighborhood," said Berger, whose works recently were moved from the first to the fifth floor of the building. "In Los Angeles, it was a Jewish neighborhood that became an African-American neighborhood, which became a Hispanic neighborhood."

One of her big takeaways: "This country is filled with nice people."

Burns said the goal of displaying work such as Berger's is to "get people to think outside the boundaries of their own life and think about some of the life circumstances of the people they are treating."

Berger said one goal for the MLK exhibit was to help doctors learn to understand their patients.

"If they are treating patients, whatever their ethnicity, they need to understand how they live, where they come from, how they grew up," she said.

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