WFIRM Residency 2020 Project

When Art + Medicine Meet = Awareness, Celebration, Play, Brain Breaks, and Advocacy for PATIENTS

“I vividly remember how Kelly was going back and forth to the labs of our scientists and the on-site Art Lab she created at the institute’s campus. Her technical skills as an artist meshed incredibly well with our scientists because they respected her vast curiosity and intellect. By the end of the week people were energized about how they had actually made art and done something totally outside of their regular practice. We have also worked with Kelly on exhibits that help the public and patient communities engage with the work that goes on here. We keep working with Kelly because the energy that comes out of these engagements has real power.” -Joan F Schanck, MPA, Chief Education Program Officer, WFIRM

I have just wrapped up an incredible artist-in-residence in Winston-Salem, NC partnering with Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and Sawtooth Center for the Arts. My return served as the kickoff to an Arts and Medicine Collaboration culminating in an exhibition opening this June to bring awareness, celebration and advocacy to CURES with CELLS.

While learning from Cell Scientists and Professors, I created a companion program pop-up art/sci lab to guide and share the concepts of visually translating medical science with paint. Our combined passion for creativity and discovery resulted in an exceptional WFIRM Gallery of Regenerative Medicine Science Art and creative self-expression from over 50 institute participants, all of whom wanted #theartlab to become a permanent part of their work place. The experiences & unexpected outcomes, and future goals, were a happy surprise for us all.

My amazing week encompassed: Bioprinting Technologies to Print Organs and Tissues, Prenatal Therapies “4aCUREb4”, Body-on-a-Chip Technologies, Genetic Reprogramming of the Heart, Design of 3D biomaterial scaffolding systems for clinical translation, Reconstructive Transplantation, Imaging Regen Medicine, CRISPR/CRISP_R-associated (Cas), and GI Diseases.

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