MOCA Jacksonville and Art with a Heart in Healthcare present Daydreamers
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (September 21, 2023) — MOCA Jacksonville is pleased to announce the new exhibition Daydreamers, in partnership with Art with a Heart in Healthcare. The exhibition is on view through January 14, 2024. Daydreamers features the work of 20 young artists ranging in age from eight to 19 who are patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville.
For more than a decade, MOCA Jacksonville has partnered with Art with a Heart in Healthcare, a nonprofit organization that provides personalized art experiences to enhance the healing process for patients and families in local healthcare settings. The organization creates an opportunity for participants to share who they are as a whole person rather than one who is defined by diagnosis, age, or disability. Patients and their families also learn technical art-making and creative skills while gaining self-confidence and self-awareness in the process.
The teams at Art with a Heart in Healthcare and MOCA Jacksonville work together each year to develop a unique patient art exhibition based on a prompt or question that inspires imagination, artistry, and individual expression amongst young patients, who work under the guidance of an Artist-in-Residence. This year’s artists-in-residence are Dylan Bauer, Kianna Godoy, Jaycee Guttormson, Amy Irizarry, Brooke McKinney, Lisa Miyares, Matt Richards, Abigail Santos, and Micaela Yates.
Imagining themselves in a myriad of ways, from majestic creatures to mighty warriors, patient artists answered the question: "Where does your mind wander when you daydream?"
This exhibition is sponsored by the Florida Blue Foundation. Additional support for this exhibition was made in part by the City of Jacksonville, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and the University of North Florida.
MEDIA AVAILABILTY:
For further questions and to schedule interviews with MOCA Curator Ylva Rouse, Art with a Heart in Healthcare Executive Director Christy Ponder, or the patient artists available for interview, please contact Emily Bailey at 904-620-5624 or e.bailey@unf.edu.
MEDIA PORTAL:
Press release, images, cutlines, and artist bios are available at the link below for use.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/sphbbyrb0lalwo1ya34ws/h?rlkey=irpjumbjmxmaievf6a4cjo1q7&dl=0
ABOUT ART WITH A HEART IN HEALTHCARE
Art with a Heart in Healthcare (AWAHIH) is a Jacksonville-based nonprofit organization that has been providing personalized fine art experiences to enhance the healing process for patients and families at local hospitals since 2001. AWAHH programs and services fund a talented team of staff artists, community volunteers and interns from the University of North Florida and master’s students from the Arts in Medicine program at University of Florida. Patients are from Palm Coast to St. Augustine to Jacksonville and Fernandina Beach, and beyond. The nonprofit’s team of artists and volunteers have served more than 100,000 patients and their families at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Nemours Children’s Specialty Clinic, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, and Baptist Medical Center.
“For children in the hospital, art is so much more than a fun activity. It provides a distraction from pain, helps them express themselves during a stressful time, and is part of their healing process,” said Michael D. Aubin, President of Wolfson Children’s Hospital. “Art with a Heart in Healthcare’s professional artists share their creative gifts seven days a week with Wolfson Children’s Hospital patients, in every setting, from the medical/surgical floors to our child and adolescent behavioral health unit, at the bedside and in our playrooms. Art with a Heart is an essential member of our Wolfson Children’s Hospital caregiving team.”
Artists-in-Residence work with participants to bring out their natural talents, while promoting self-confidence and self-awareness during their hospital experience.
ABOUT MOCA JACKSONVILLE
Founded in 1924 as the Jacksonville Fine Arts Society, the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville is a private nonprofit visual arts educational institution and a cultural institute of the University of North Florida. One of the Southeast’s largest contemporary art institutions, MOCA Jacksonville serves the community and its visitors through innovative exhibitions, notable collections, award-winning educational programs, and compelling publications designed to enhance an understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art, with a particular emphasis on works created from 1960 to the present. In the past three years, the museum has produced more than thirty exhibitions. While it attracts visitors from all over the Southeast, MOCA Jacksonville is an important community partner in Northeast Florida. In 2009, MOCA Jacksonville became a cultural institute of the University of North Florida, enhancing its commitment to providing the highest quality arts educational opportunities, which now include special lectures, college-level art courses, and special faculty and student exhibitions. The museum is also a cornerstone of Jacksonville’s multibillion-dollar downtown revitalization plan with exhibitions and programs that bring new visitors to the civic core during the day, at night, and on weekends. Educational programming includes children’s literacy initiatives and family art-making classes as well as regular tours, lectures, films, and publications for children and adults.
For more information including hours of operation, admission prices, and upcoming exhibitions and programs, call 904.366.6911 or visit mocajacksonville.unf.edu.
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