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“Brains ‘I’ View” exhibit opens at Jonesborough Visitors Center
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (March 8, 2012) — “Brains ‘I’ View,” a unique art exhibit created by local individuals with brain injury, will be on display at the Jonesborough Visitors Center March 12-April 14.
An artists’ reception will be held at the Visitors Center on Friday, March 16, from 4-7 p.m. Many of the artists will attend the reception to show their work and share their stories. The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.
The exhibit was developed and coordinated by the Milligan College occupational therapy program and the Crumley House Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center in Limestone, Tenn. It includes a variety of expressive media such as painting, drawing, photography, mixed media and poetry. Each piece also includes a descriptive paragraph from the artists, sharing how the artwork reflects their personal experiences with brain injury.
The effort was created and coordinated by Dr. Jil Smith, assistant professor of occupational therapy at Milligan. She was assisted by Milligan student Colleen Kavanagh, of Bel Air, Md., who worked on the show for her graduate project in occupational therapy. The project is based on Smith’s work with patients at the Crumley House, including Ron Peterson, an artist whose story was the catalyst for the exhibit.
At age 18, Peterson was already a recognized artist with award-winning paintings hanging in the capitol building in Tallahassee, Fla. He planned to continue his life as a professional artist, but that plan was derailed by a tragic car accident that caused him to experience a severe traumatic brain injury. The brain injury produced significant physical, visual and language deficits for Peterson and put an end to his artistic dreams as he knew them. That was 25 years ago.
Peterson now lives at the Crumley House. Working with occupational therapists, who focus on rehabilitation using the meaningful activities of an individual’s life, Peterson created a variety of art pieces that spoke about the struggles of living with a brain injury.
“We recognized that other individuals with brain injury might want to tell their story in a similar format, so this art show was developed,” Smith said. “We hope that visitors will enjoy looking at the art and are inspired by the shared stories.”
In recognition of March as Brain Injury Awareness Month, there will be additional information about brain injury, the Crumley House and occupational therapy available at the Visitors Center during the exhibit.
For more information, contact Jil Smith at jsmith@milligan.edu. To learn more about Milligan’s occupational therapy program, visit www.milligan.edu.