Former President George W. Bush’s Art Teacher Lends His Talents to Abington Hospital

Acclaimed portraitist Sedrick Huckaby recently used his talent at Abington Hospital, by listening to and then drawing images of patients to show the person behind the illness, writes Kristin E. Holmes for Philly.com.

The art professor, who once taught former President George W. Bush, came to Abington as a weeklong artist-in-residence. This was part of an initiative to cultivate empathy among hospital staff and help them develop a keener ear for a patient’s voice.

Huckaby, whose work is featured at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, spent the week roaming in the hospital halls and lobbies to capture the humanness of patients.

“Through looking at imagery, you can invite someone to feel something about a person they don’t know,” noted Huckaby “

Maureen Frye, director of Abington’s Center for Patient Safety and Health Care Quality invited Huckaby after seeing an exhibit of “The 99%” lithographs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

“I felt there was something we could learn about how to partner with patients and work with them in a collaborative way,” said Frye.

Read more about the hospital’s initiative at Philly.com by clicking here.

[uam_ad id=”51712″]