The Art of Baylor: The 13th Annual BCM Art Show
Students come to Baylor College of Medicine to learn the art of medicine, but if they look closely they may get an art education as well.
This week, Baylor College of Medicine will play host to the 13th Annual BCM Art Show, which benefits the Texas Children’s Hospital Cancer and Hematology Centers. Taking place on the first and second floor of the Alkek Building at One Baylor Plaza, the art show and auction features over 500 pieces from 68 artists. The art show will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 11 – 14 and from 10 a.m. to noon Aug. 15 for final budding.
Organized by the Graduate Student Council, the show gives members of the Baylor community a chance to express themselves.
“Most of the work done by scientists will never be seen,” postdoctoral associate and jeweler Elicia Grace said. “While they are critical, optimization of assays and failed experiments don’t really make for great stories. Making jewelry provides me with tangible output and the fact that it will raise money for charity is an added bonus.”
Sandy Grimm, Ph.D., a research associate in the Dean Edward’s lab, says the annual show is a great way to share her photography.
“I’ve participated (in the show) the last eight years,” she said. “I don’t really sell or display my prints elsewhere, so it’s great to get feedback from my colleagues about what they like and what is meaningful to them. It’s also a wonderful feeling to know that people like my photos enough to hang them on their walls or give them as gifts.”
More than a hobby
Baylor postdoctoral fellow Amber Miller says she’s being doing arts and crafts since she was a child, and the busyness of medical school hasn’t stopped her.
“We were a thrifty family, so it was fun to be creative and make your own clothes and jewelry,” said Miller. “It was always a treat to go to the big bead store and look through all of the different styles and then find the ones that spoke to you. As I grew up it just became incorporated into my life, almost as a stress-reliever.”
Miller enjoys the fun that comes from creativity and says she’s happy to see her work be able to do something good.
“It is exciting that other people like your pieces enough to want to spend money on them,” Miller said. “I think the really incredible part is that almost half of the money people spend on your art pieces will go back to charity and potentially inspire other people to become artists. “
A life of painting
No stranger to having her art displayed publically, medical student Kim Zhou has been painting from a young age and has previously entered a few competitions, including at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“I started painting in the fourth grade back in China,” Zhou said. “Then I moved to the states and took art classes with a private teacher.”
Zhou has used a variety of painting styles, from acrylic to oil to knife painting. She said she enjoys doing portraits of people and doing recreations of photographs or other art works.
“It really is stress relieving,” Zhou said. “Whenever I paint I go into a zone for three or four hours and just forget about anything else. Art is one of my biggest passions in life, and it started very early for me. Even during medical school when it gets very busy, I still try to paint during the summer. It’s just became a part of who I am.”
Capturing the world
Graduate medical student (and amateur photographer) Triparna Ghosh-Choudhury traveled to Europe because of an educational conference, and she knew she had to bring her camera.
“I went by myself to all these places,” she said. “It’s kind of like my journey, and I get to share it when I come back so hopefully people can experience it through pictures.”
An avid fan of Pinterest, Ghosh-Choudhury found that she could blend her love of crafts with her photography.
“I like to make things,” she said. “I wanted to print all these pictures on a nice canvas, but I looked up how expensive that was and thought, ‘there’s got to be a way to do this myself.’ So I figured out how to mount the pictures myself.”
Her thriftiness paid off – each of Ghosh-Choudhury’s photographs were mounted by hand.
Read more about the Art of Baylor. If there’s a piece of art found on the Baylor campus you’d like to know more about, or that you think others would be interested in knowing more about, email phifer@bcm.edu with your suggestion.
