Publishers Note
Art as a source of healing has been used as a therapeutic tool in various healthcare settings such as hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation centers and has long been recognized as more than just a medium of self-expression. In various cultures, art has played a curative role, helping individuals process emotions, cope with trauma, and connect with themselves and others in profound ways.
The Art of Music
When Creativity Heals
Equal parts compassion and creativity, Art with a Heart in Healthcare (AWAHIH) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides group and bedside art sessions to children and adults in the hospital setting. It was founded in 2001 and has brought the power of art to over 125,000 patients and their families. AWAHIH’s origin story is as heart-driven as the art experiences it provides to its pediatric patients.
The organization is currently observing its 15th year of partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville with “The Art of Music” exhibition which shows how music sparks visual storytelling and how that creative process captures each child’s journey. Each guitar in the exhibition shares a personal story—a memory, an emotion, or a message the artist hopes to convey. Through every brushstroke and painted guitar, these young artists show us the power of art and music to inspire, uplift, and express what words alone cannot (read more on page 20).
Grief in Bloom
Creating beauty can be the bridge between unbearable grief and fragile hope, a way for a fragmented heart to begin to find wholeness again. Gardening is an act of creation. Seeds are planted and expected to grow into something vibrant, beautiful, and alive. After death, though, that same act of creation becomes a foreign idea. It becomes a quiet resistance against despair. To coax life from the soil when everything inside you feels broken. Pruning in quiet corners of the garden, helps find comfort in a steady rhythm of small, deliberate tasks.
In a time when so much feels fleeting, gardens teach a quiet, essential truth: life cycles onward. Death, yes—but also regrowth. Dormancy—but also renewal (page 16).
Enjoy putting a little culture and fun in your life.
Cinda Sherman, Publisher
Enjoy putting a little culture and fun in your life.
There is art around every corner.
Enjoy putting a little culture and fun in your life.
It’s all somewhere on every corner!
