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News Release July 12, 2007 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…A doctor’s diagnosis of a patient relies on an ability to observe, describe, and evaluate visual information. Carnegie Museum of Art, The Andy Warhol Museum, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical School recently launched Art and Medicine, a four-week coursefor medical students designed to hone visual thinking and observation skills through the study of art in the museums’ galleries. This new mini-elective is taught by educators, curators, and conservators at the museums, and works with a small group of students through a series of gallery discussions and hands-on exercises. “A myriad of conscious and unconscious factors affect what we see, what details and nuances we observe, and the conclusions we draw from visual information,” says Carnegie Museum of Art Chair and Curator of Education Marilyn Russell. “Exploring works of art can provide a valuable complement to medical education. Additionally, the arts are powerful links to understanding human experience and contribute to more effective doctor-patient interactions.” Sessions at the Warhol museum will explore how interpretation is influenced and mediated by a variety of factors ranging from personal and socio-cultural experience to the context in which we look at art. Through the lens of Warhol’s art, life, and practice, discussions will focus on the effect of the viewer’s point of view, and the framing of information and critical opinion on how we see. Activities will also directly engage students in Warhol’s art-making practice to demonstrate how it can lead to another level of understanding. “Warhol said ‘Once you got Pop you never looked at a sign the same way again.’ Referring to the influence of the burgeoning commercialism of 1950s America on the art of its time, Warhol pointed to the power of art to engage viewers in looking anew at their world,” says Jessica Grogan, curator of special projects at The Andy Warhol Museum. “We hope through these sessions to engage students in discussions and activities that offer enriched perspectives from which to think about their practice.” Sessions at Carnegie Museum of Art on directed looking will introduce a systematic process for approaching a work of art for the first time, determining its story, and investigating how these elements contribute to the work’s impact and meaning. Students will also consider works of art from the perspective of standards, considering notions of what is normal or ideal. The museum’s conservation staff will introduce students to what can be discovered through analysis of the physical characteristics of works of art and will discuss the ethics of “treating” damaged works of art. The museum/medical school partnership was inspired by similar collaborations between Yale Center for British Art and Yale University Medical School and The Frick Collection and Weill Cornell Medical School. In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh Medical School began a collaboration with Carnegie Museum of Natural History through which museum curators also are teaching a course for medical students, titled The Natural History of Medicine. “These kinds of meaningful collaborations between our museums and the School of Medicine are wonderful examples of how cultural organizations can and should look beyond their own four walls for creative ways to make a difference in their communities,” said David M. Hillenbrand, President and CEO of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. “This unique course uses art to sharpen visual acuity skills while increasing awareness of factors that influence what we see, how we interpret it, and arrive at subsequent assessments, evaluations, and decisions,” said Dr. Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. “We are fortunate to have a partnership such as this, in which the students are learning valuable implications of visual knowledge for medical practice.” Art and Medicine will initiate ideas for additional courses and student research projects that investigate the overlaps between artistic and scientific thinking, and suggest topics that link medicine and the humanities. Carnegie Museum of Art The Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum and Carnegie Museum of Art receive state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District. Carnegie Museum of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum are two of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. For information about the museums visit www.carnegiemuseums.org. Contact: Rick Armstrong
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