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Building Empathy Through the Arts

Thomas Jefferson University
Carl D., who is living with dementia, comforts Nadine F., the care partner of another participant, during a creative workshop led by artist Teya Sepinuck. Photo by Raymond W. Holman, Jr.
Carl D., who is living with dementia, comforts Nadine F., the care partner of another participant, during a creative workshop led by artist Teya Sepinuck. Photo by Raymond W. Holman, Jr.
First-year Jefferson medical student Anji R. and mentors Mike S. and Mary Anne S. at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Photo by Jonas Denzel and Christian Hays.
First-year Jefferson medical student Anji R. and mentors Mike S. and Mary Anne S. at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Photo by Jonas Denzel and Christian Hays.
Jeffrey Rollins.
Jeffrey Rollins.
First-year Jefferson medical student Jui D. and mentor Norm W. at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Photo by Jonas Denzel and Christian Hays.
First-year Jefferson medical student Jui D. and mentor Norm W. at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Photo by Jonas Denzel and Christian Hays.
Thomas Jefferson University, established in 1824. Photo courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Photography Services.
Thomas Jefferson University, established in 1824. Photo courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Photography Services.

Thomas Jefferson University’s Building Empathy Through the Arts will join artists, medical students, and people living with dementia and their caregivers in a creative process of empathy-building, storytelling, and healing that will culminate in a new performance work. The project will further Jefferson’s development of creative pedagogy at the intersection of art, healthcare, and wellness. Building Empathy Through the Arts will be created in collaboration with Teya Sepinuck, founder and artistic director of Theater of Witness, which produces testimonial performances, and Susan Shifrin, founder of ARTZ Philadelphia, which provides art-making and conversation programs for people with dementia and their caregivers. The program will enlist approximately 80 patients and caregivers as mentors to students, who will engage in a series of arts-based listening and creative process circles that will foster conversation about the lived experience of dementia and caregiving. Several student-mentor pairs will continue working with Sepinuck to develop autobiographical performances that will lay the foundation for a larger-scale performance work exploring what it means to heal and be healed.

Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.
 

Recipient
Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University

Since 1824, Thomas Jefferson University has offered the highest level of education to students pursuing careers in bioscience and medicine. Through the programs of its six colleges, Jefferson trains nearly 35,000 health professionals, and annually enrolls more than 5,000 future physicians, scientists, nurses, and healthcare specialists. The college’s humanities program offers students an opportunity to pursue a self-directed course of creative practice and research within the arts and humanities, in parallel with their medical education. A 2017 Center grant supports Jefferson’s Building Empathy Through the Arts, which will engage artists, medical students, and people living with dementia and their caregivers in an arts-based process of empathy-building and storytelling that will culminate in a new performance work.

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News

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Announces 2017 Grants for Philadelphia Artists, Organizations

Jun 19, 2017
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