June 21, 2019
Isabel Rucker’s “Seeking the Light” is on exhibition in the St. John’s Professional Office Building until May 2020
Updates
Collaborative Art and Healing program features new works
Jackson, WY – The Center for the Arts and St. John’s Health continue their Art and Healing community collaboration with a new exhibition featuring multi-disciplinary artist, Isabel Rucker.
Ms. Rucker’s exhibition, “Seeking the Light,” on display in the St. John’s Professional Office Building showcases how art can contribute to a healing environment. Healthcare facilities are not often thought of as places to display and view art. Nonetheless, modern healthcare facilities are designed to focus on creating environments that welcome patients and their families and help wellness and positive clinical outcomes. The Center for the Arts, St. John’s Health Foundation, and St. John’s Health have a continued partnership focused upon art and healing. Research shows that patients who are exposed to art that is calming, positive, and affirming have lower rates of pain, shorter hospital stays, and generally experience better clinical outcomes. The hallways at St. John’s Medical Center’s Professional Office Building exhibit local artist’s work through this initiative. Work is selected through The Center’s Call for Artists each October and is chosen based on the art and healing criteria established by the St. John’s Art Committee.
“Seeking the Light” is a collection of recent large-scale watercolor paintings that are vibrant, abstract visions of the light spectrum and remembered places. The beauty of light is illustrated through the faceted lenses of the natural world, gemstones and memory. Included in this exhibition is “Soul Meditation,” 11 small narrative paintings that take the viewer on a journey from the Earth upwards into the heavens, into the unknown, and then back down to Earth. Ms. Rucker says, “I often look toward the sky for peace, solace, and answers and with this work I was considering our individual souls, our unity, and the heavenly and mysterious realms above us.”
Ms. Rucker’s large-scale paintings are abstract visions of the natural and remembered worlds. She lives in the Rocky Mountains where she seeks sunlight’s refracting and illuminating effects on plants, water and ice. While traveling, the repetition of a pattern, certain foliage or the behavior of light can totally shape her memory of a place. She chooses to work abstractly so that the paintings can merge with these places and phenomena rather than reflect them. She is beginning to translate these abstract ideas to three dimensional sculptural work to create a cohesive multi-disciplinary body of work.
Ms. Rucker comes from a family of artists, teachers, and philosophers. She has lived in Wyoming since 2003 and previously in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oregon, France, Virginia, Germany and New York. She received a Bachelor’s of Arts, Fine Arts, from University of Oregon.
Oona Doherty, Creative Initiatives Director at The Center explains that, “the partnership with The Center and St. John’s is based on showcasing art that inspires everyone who walks into the Professional Office Building. We hope that experiencing this revolving art will enhance the visitors experience while also giving artists the opportunity to share their work with a wider community. We are so excited to share the paintings of Isabel Rucker. Her exhibit at the Center this past December was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us and it’s wonderful to see this continue at a different venue.”
The public is invited to view the exhibition in the west hallway of the St. John’s Professional Office Building. An artist talk with Isabel Rucker will take place in the St. John’s Professional Office building conference room on Friday, June 28th from 12:00-1:00 pm. All are welcome and lunch will be provided.
Please reply to Rachel Merrell – RPMerrell@tetonhospital.org.
Inquiries about the artwork can be directed to Oona Doherty, Creative Initiatives Coordinator at Center for the Arts at 307.734.8956 x117 or Oona@jhcenterforthearts.org. Further inquiries about the Art and Healing program may be directed to Blair Christy, Director of Patient Experience and Volunteer Services of St. John’s Health at 307 739.7285 or BChristy@tetonhospital.org.
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ABOUT THE CENTER
The mission of the Center for the Arts is to connect our creative community by providing a dedicated campus, supporting excellent programming, and nurturing a collaborative spirit. The Center’s vision is to make the artistic experience central to Jackson Hole. For more information visit, www.jhcenterforthearts.org
ABOUT ST. JOHN’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
The mission of the St. John’s Health Foundation is to secure philanthropic support to advance the mission and strategic objectives of St. John’s Health, including patient-centered care, clinical excellence, and community wellness.
ABOUT ST. JOHN’S MEDICAL CENTER
St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson, Wyoming, offers patient-centered care, clinical excellence, and community wellness through a full-service hospital, primary care and specialty physician practices, and a long-term care Living Center. For more information, visit tetonhospital.org
Media contact: Rachel Merrell, 307 739 7529, rpmerrell@tetonhospital.org