On Tuesday, October 20, 2020, NOAH announced this year’s winners of the Hamilton International Arts in Health Awards. Recognizing individuals or organizations offering visual or performing arts programs supporting health care, educational and community needs, the awards were presented virtually during NOAH’s 4th Annual National Conference.
This year’s Hamilton Award Winners were incredibly diverse and innovative, featuring a range of offerings. From children’s performance groups to avatar-mediated programs to nurse-led immersive performances, these programs support communities across the country and highlight the critical role the arts can play in our health and wellness systems. This year, four programs were recognized with first place awards and one received honorable mention. This year’s recipients are:
ARTS ADVANCING SOCIAL JUSTICE Category:
First Place – The MetroHealth System
Students are Free to Express (SAFE) Project
- Program created to address the mental health and well-being of Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students using an arts-based, psychologically informed, primary prevention curriculum.
ARTS BUILDING RESILIENCE Category:
First Place – Tara Rynders – First Do No Harm and the Clinic Workshops
- Program is a nurse-led, arts-based collective created to raise awareness of nursing burnout through immersive theater performances addressing compassion, fatigue, burnout, moral injury and secondary traumatic stress.
Honorable Mention – University Health System – Salud-Arte: Art of Healing Program
- Program featured artist Doerte Weber and her weavings as a way to inspire healing, compassion, hope and trust, to reflect the community, and to improve the experience of patients and visitors.
ARTS FOR INNOVATION Category: (two winners)
First Place – VCU Massey Cancer Center – VoicingHan: Avatar life-review for palliative care
- An avatar mediated life-review project designed for cancer patients in palliative care setting.
First Place – Central Florida Community Arts – Upbeat Musical Theater Program
- A performance group for teen and young adult actors ages 13-35 with a variety of exceptionalities including (but not limited to) autism, Down syndrome, and ADHD. UpBeat! produces multiple performances each year, including plays and musicals.
Winners received $500 and free registration to NOAH’s annual conference.
About the Hamilton Awards: Named for the sponsoring Hamilton Saykaly Garbulinska Foundation at Blue Grass Community Foundation, the Hamiltons are open to artists working in all media or arts in health programs in community or clinical settings. The programs must demonstrate measurable improvement in the health and well-being of the intended population. The HSG Foundation at Blue Grass Community Foundation supports charitable causes with an emphasis on performing and visual arts, including arts in healthcare as well as educational and community needs.
We want to once again thank Jackie Hamilton and the Hamilton Saykaly Garbulinska Foundation for their generosity and for their support of NOAH and arts in health. Shining a light on these programs helps us bring more of them into our communities and benefits us all.
The 2020 Jury:
Cam Busch
Cam Busch is Founder and President Emeritus, Tennessee Art Therapy Association; Licensed, registered, and Board Certified Art Therapist; Recently retired Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist; exhibiting artist and photographer of 40 years; Distinguished Fellow, Global Alliance for Arts and Health; National consultant with the SAHCS (Society for the Arts in Healthcare Consulting Services) and owner of Art Therapy Consults and Studio in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Iva Fattorini
Iva Fattorini is a Founder of Artocene and Artocene Digital, social impact and digital health companies whose mission is to integrate the arts with medicine on a global level. Previously she worked as a senior executive at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the leading hospitals in the USA, where she founded Arts and Medicine Institute. She started the program in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and is creating awareness as an international speaker. Iva is a trained dermatologist, who devoted her professional life to making the concept of arts and medicine a new paradigm.
Jackie Hamilton
Jackie Hamilton directed the development and implementation of the UK Arts in HealthCare Program from its inception. The program includes a $10 million permanent collection; 3 rotating galleries in the hospital that feature regional and national artists for six months; a weekly performing arts program; art therapy, music therapy; therapeutic workshops; annual concerts by internationally renowned performers; and integrative medicine modalities. The visual art collection extends to all UK HealthCare locations and clinics and is dedicated to creating a healing environment and fostering patient satisfaction.
Louis H. Hart III, MD
Louis H. Hart III, MD is Director of Equity, Quality & Safety at NYC Health + Hospitals. By ingraining an equity lens into quality and safety infrastructures, his work addresses the historical structural barriers that have caused inequitable inclusion practices within the organization and disparate health outcomes for the patients the System serves. He is a board-certified Pediatrician and serves patients as an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Hospital Medicine in NYC.
Annette Ridenour
Annette Ridenour has been a leader in health care design for 35+ years as president and founder of Aesthetics, Inc. She has been described as a practical visionary for her ability to combine explorative thought with strategic thinking focused upon implementation. Annette is also President emeritus of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, co-author of “Transforming the Healthcare Experience through the Arts”. Numerous articles by and about her have appeared in such national art and healthcare publications. She has lectured on Arts in Healthcare in six countries. She won the 2012 award for Arts in the Patient Environment from the Academy for Health and Design.
Jennifer Wilcox
Jennifer Wilcox is Principal and founder of Cotter/Wilcox, LLC, and has more than 20 years of experience in the association and non-profit communities. She has successfully led large-scale change management processes focused on technology implementation, new product development, leadership development, customer service and brand repositioning and management. She has taught membership development courses at the University of Maryland and facilitated retreats for associations and not-for-profit groups. Jennifer also serves as the Director of Education for The Center for Health Design.
NOAH Board Member, Awards Sponsor, and Arts in Health Champion Jackie Hamilton