Featured Artists
MIKE BENEVENIA
Mike Benevenia is a painter and sculptor who is drawn to 1860’s America since it lies on the cusp of Modern medicine/society as well as due to the unresolved crisis of the Civil War. In Indian tradition, Unani is a contemporarily utilized medical practice drawn from Classical Greek culture that migrated to the subcontinent where it has developed and been continually practiced for over a thousand years, providing many with a cost effective, accessible, and democratic health care system. Together the two provide Mike points of entry to make work which can create moments of crisis, where the resolution following can develop solidarity and compassion through conversation and dialogue. Mike will be working with with Nashvillians to create a monument which looks at the past to point toward our collective tomorrow.
OMARI BOOKER
Omari Booker is a Nashville painter and mastermind behind the creation of 'Bessie', a large scale painting featuring music legends from Bessie Smith to JayZ. This 8' x 12' foot painting was a focal point of the 2021 'Black on Buchanan' Juneteenth celebration, which saw hundreds of attendees help to fill the canvas, which Omari is now putting the finishing touches to. Once complete, 'Bessie' will go on tour, stopping at schools, museums, and hospitals throughout 2022. Omari will be available at each venue to discuss his path as an artist, his inspiration for 'Bessie', and how his work reflects his philosophies on life, creativity, and art.
MARCIE KINDRED
Marcie Kindred is a photographer and master woodworker. She is inspired by nature, old buildings, and wood to create stunning imagery. Along with 3 fellow SCAD alumni, she is part of the Silver Water Collective. Marcie is playing many roles in the Art of Healing. She recently received her MFA from SCAD , and has served as a curator for the show. She has helped design The Wondr'ys Fall 2021 Social Venture Think Tank 'Adaptive Fashion' program for Vanderbilt undergraduates and the local disabled population. Finally, she has lent her talents toward building furniture for the show and will have photography on display at the 100 Oaks Clinics, the Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and the Curb Center at Vanderbilt.
RACHEL MINDRUP
Rachel Mindrup is an assistant professor of drawing and painting and the Richard L. Deming, MD Endowed Chair in Medical Humanities at Creighton University. Her current painting practice is about the study of the figure and portraiture in art and its relation to medicine, healing and identity. Her son's diagnosis has been the motivation behind her series of portraits "Many Faces of Neurofibromatosis (NF)". She is currently painting someone with NF from all 50 states to bring to Washington D.C. when advocating for federal funding for NF research. Her paintings will be displayed at the Curb Center with a pop-up show of Nashville-specific portraits planned for August 2022.
BETTY TURNEY-TURNER
Betty Turney-Turner, a gifted stained glass artist and sculptor, and her team of master artisans (Beth Herrig Volz, Martha Morales-Purucker, and Alfred Turney III)are the creative force behind ‘Path to a Higher Note’.
Designed for the 2021 'Black on Buchanan' Juneteenth celebration, the sculpture depicts Jourdan and Amanda Anderson, two formerly enslaved children on a Tennessee plantation, standing atop a quilt foundation made from railroad tracks and traditional quilting patterns for freedom and safety, associated with the Underground Railroad. They hold a ‘North Star’ heart between them and music notes in their outstretched hands, both nods to the importance of the lodestar and music in the Black culture. The sculpture celebrates the Emancipation with the community by inviting the public to help finish the piece by adding a mosaic tile as a way of recognizing any ancestors who were the victims of enslavement. Once completed, the piece will be donated to a community center so all who helped to create the piece can enjoy its beauty and its message of hope and freedom.
Bessie
Omari Booker (work in progress)