In spring of 2021, a unique collaboration between the Department of Art and Art History and Dell Medical School’s Livestrong Cancer Institutes (LCI) resulted in the Studio Art course "Aesthetics of Health." Led by Associate Professor of Practice in Studio Art and First-Year Core Director Megan Hildebrandt and Robin N. Richardson, who oversees care transformation and community engagement initiatives at LCI, Aesthetics of Health employed a mix of art practice, illness narrative, clinical pedagogies and community engagement in one transformative course. In the fall of 2021, Hildebrandt, Richardson and the students of the spring course shared their work in a Visual Arts Center exhibition, Aesthetics of Health, which received press coverage from The Daily Texan.
Now, the course will receive the SXSW Edu spotlight in March of 2022 for a panel featuring Hildebrandt, Richardson, Aesthetics of Health student representative Richard Greene and breast cancer survivor and patient advocate with Chemotherapy Cold Cappers Rebecca Muñoz. The panel, Cancer Storytelling & Enhancing Empathy in Artists, promises to discuss their interactive pedagogic approach showcasing outcomes of (1) enhanced equity, (2) increased resiliency, and (3) accommodation of varying art modalities, community members and settings.
A second iteration of the VAC gallery exhibition, Aesthetics of Health, to be shown in the Health Discovery Building at Dell Medical School was announced on November 30, 2021. The exhibition will be on view from December 2, 2021 – February 15, 2022.