The event, taking place on April 8 at 5 p.m., at the La Salle University Art Museum, will also include a panel discussion with professionals from both the art and public health fields.
Public HArt is an on-campus event organized by Adia Brown, ’27, MPH ’28.
Adia Brown, ‘27, MPH ‘28, grew up in a house of artists. Her mom crafts, her dad sings, both her siblings draw, and she dances and writes poems.
“My family is very art-oriented,” Brown said. “I come from just involving yourself in art. I wanted that to continue within my career.”
However, when she first joined La Salle University’s Public Health 5-Year (BSPH/MPH) Program, she worried that there wasn’t a space for the arts in the scientific and research-driven public health field.
A conversation with her cousin, Tres McMichael, associate director of community engagement at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City, who wrote his dissertation on the relationship between art and public health changed Brown’s viewpoint.
She started planning an on-campus event that would bring her two passions together.
“I love art and public health, so I just want to instill that love in other people,” Brown said.
With this idea in mind, Brown organized the Public HArt event.
On April 8 at 5 p.m., an art display comprised of pieces created by the Explorer community will be displayed in the La Salle University Art Museum. There will also be a panel discussion with two experts from both the art and public health worlds exploring the intersection between the two fields.
“Public HArt emphasizes the crucial role of art within public health. Engaging in the arts can not only improve our well-being, artworks themselves can aid in the communication of public health issues,” Carolyn Greene, Ph.D., director and chief curator of the La Salle University Art Museum said. “This event is important as it focuses on the intersection of public health and art helping to emphasize the interdisciplinary aspects of both these areas to our students.”
As well as McMichael, the panel will include Sharnita Midgett, MPH ‘20, assistant for multicultural issues in education and doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania.
John Taylor, Ph.D., M.Ed., MACC, LPC, an assistant professor at La Salle, and the faculty advisor for the Public Health Student Organization (PHSO), of which Brown is the vice president, works with students to help prepare them for careers in public health and related fields, including helping facilitate collaboration with community partners and engage in professional activities.
“This event will highlight the intersection of Public Health and Art by demonstrating the numerous aspects of Public Health present in our everyday lives. such as the environment, sexual health, vulnerable populations, healthcare, transportation, violence prevention, and many more. Attendees will better understand aspects of Public Health and ways to improve the quality of their lives and those of others in the community,” Taylor said, adding that he is excited for PHSO’s collaboration with McMichael.
“Everyone should come out and enjoy Mr. McMichael speaking and the art exhibit,” he said.
Following the event, the artwork will stay displayed for up to a week for Art Museum guests to view.
“This is a great event for people like me who at first thought public health and art had no intersection,” Brown said. “They do. We see murals outside that have public health topics, poems that people write about public health issues. So, public health and art do have a place together and I just want to share that with the broader community.”
Brown believes Public HArt can be a space for people to express themselves and a place for discussion about current issues within public health including topics like women’s healthcare and racial equity.
“It’s important that we can have these discussions through art for people to express the emotions that they feel about these issues,” she added. “Art allows you to be angry, to voice your frustrations, and to voice your love.”
-Naomi Thomas
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