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NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE OPENS EXHIBIT FEATURING ARTISTS TOUCHED BY AN ORTHOPAEDIC CONDITION

"I Wish I Could Have Done More" is a graphite rendering of "a frustrated and fatigued orthopaedic surgeon "who has done all in his power to repair the injured patient (and) knows all too well it may not have been enough," according to artist William R. Loscher, M.D.WASHINGTON - "eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art," a traveling art exhibit featuring work by artists whose lives have been touched by an orthopaedic condition and the physicians who treat them, will be on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology from March 15, 2002 through Aug. 15, 2002.

Media in the exhibit include paintings, drawings, prints, photography, sculpture, textiles, crafts, functional art, and mixed media. A personal narrative describing each artist's inspiration for their work accompanies each piece.

"Artwork by patients reflects their orthopaedic pain, frustration, recovery and hope. Works by orthopaedic surgeons illustrate the patient/physician partnership, anatomical knowledge, compassion, the art of healing, and how they feel they make a difference in people's lives," said Dr. Adrianne Noe, museum director. "The exhibit brings public awareness to the conditions and treatments that affect musculoskeletal patients of all ages."

'Next Step' is a watercolor by Kurt R. Fross, a cowboy who was kicked in the hand by a cow in 1998, and broke his fingers. Within two months, he became numb all over and was diagnosed with demyelinating encephalo-myelitis, a disease that affects the white matter in the brain and spinal cord, as a result of infection in his contaminated open break. Fross's numbness has shown a decrease, and he is currently enrolled in art school in his native Wyoming, studying to be an art teacher.Organized last year by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), jurors selected 165 pieces for the show from 1,400 slides depicting works of art that were submitted by orthopaedic surgeons and adult and child artists with orthopaedic conditions, representing 17 countries and 43 states. According to the AAOS, worldwide, orthopaedic conditions are the most common cause of physical disability and severe long-term pain and 75-85 percent of all people will experience some form of back pain during their lifetime.

The exhibit opened at the Herbst International Exhibition Hall in the San Francisco Presidio on Feb. 19, 2001, and was displayed in the visitor's lobby of the United Nations in New York City prior to opening at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Additional shows are planned in Memphis, Tenn.; Ames, Iowa; Tyler, Texas, and Madrid, Spain.

The project was conceived by the AAOS as a way to support the goals of the Bone and Joint Decade (www.bonejointdecade.org), the global initiative in the years 2000-2010 to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health, stimulate research, and improve people's quality of life. An online gallery of the exhibit is at http://emotion.aaos.org/.

'Aesthetic Prosthetic' is a mixed media production by Susan Kingsley, a California artist whose conditions include a fractured tibia, dislocated shoulder, torn rotator cuff, bunions, arthritis, and low back pain. Her primary medium is metalsmithing and she uses many of the same tools as her orthopaedic surgeon husband.The exhibit also includes two original pieces of art from local artists and 13 original artworks from an art class at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md. Taught by Kathleen Fletcher. The local artists are:

  • Pia of Potomac, Md., an artist who was born in Chile and has lived in Maryland for 26 years, has contributed a carved hardwood that represents the island of the sirens. She suffered a painful calcification tendonitis to her left shoulder last year, which reminded her of a 1994 stroke that left her semi-paralyzed on her right side.
  • Carmen Trujillo was born in Cuba and has lived in Washington, D.C. since 1962. She received her B.A., B.S., and M.F.A. in Havana and was the first female Latina faculty member at the Corcoran School in Washington, D.C.

Several pieces from the museum's anatomical collection augment the AAOS artwork in the exhibition. These include a scoliotic spine, a range of normal human and non-human bones, a series of carefully prepared bone sections, some 19the-century anatomical preparations, and a mummy. In addition to the 2,000 specimens from the original Civil War Skeletal Collection, the museum's anatomical collection includes about a dozen other collections of anatomical and pathological skeletal specimens; medical research collections containing slides, tissue blocks, and related documentary materials; fluid-preserved gross organs, and other miscellaneous material.