The Arts & Humanities Program
Improving Healthcare through the Arts
The Georgetown Lombardi Arts & Humanities Program (AHP) at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital promotes cura personalis, which means care for the whole person, for patients, family members, caregivers, medical staff, students, and community members. Through its offerings of music, expressive writing, dance, and visual arts, wellness is significantly promoted throughout the hospital.
These therapeutic art modalities encourage a creative and constructive response to illness. In addition to in person activities such as classes, workshops, bedside visits, art exhibitions, environmental enhancements, and educational programs, the AHP also provides an array of online classes free of charge. Overall, these programs contribute to promoting an optimum life experience for those who encounter and interact with the AHP and Medstar Georgetown University Hospital.
Featured Event
The 9th Annual Virtual Poetry Cafe
Thursday, April 25th from 2:00 pm- 3:00 pm
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Adult Clinic
Presented by the Georgetown Lombardi Arts & Humanities Program and the Department of Mission and Pastoral Care
Register on Eventbrite
9th Annual Virtual Poetry Cafe Eventbrite Page
Location: Zoom
The Poetry Café celebrates the healing that comes through the written word as it is spoken or sung. The Poetry Café is full of inspiration, courage, reflection, enthusiasm, and vulnerability.
Above all, this event represents another wonderful collaborative event between the Arts and Humanities Program and Mission & Pastoral Care, which continues to create meaning in the experiences for patients and staff members. In conclusion, the Poetry Café is a very special event for the MedStar Georgetown University patients, caregivers, staff members, and community members – we invite you to join us!
Supporting Wellness through the Arts
Arts & Humanities Program News & Updates
Arts & Humanities in Georgetown Health: Winter 2024
The Georgetown Lombardi AHP Artist in Residence Karen Ashbrook has been featured in the Winter 2024 edition of Georgetown Health Magazine. The article, titled Therapeutic Music Lifts Mood, Sonic Environment at Lombardi features a profile on Karen and her work as a therapeutic musician. AHP Director, Julia Langley also gives her insight on the impact of music on Georgetown Lombardi patients. To read more on our feature in Georgetown Health, click the button below!
Arts & Humanities in Georgetown Health: Winter 2023
The Georgetown Arts & Humanities Program is pleased to be featured in the Winter 2023 edition of Georgetown Health Magazine! The article highlights the instillation of artist-in-residence exhibitor Aida Murad, as well as the engagement of artists-in-residence with patients in the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. To read more on our feature in Georgetown Health, click the button below!
The AHP’s National Endowment for the Arts Research Grant
Dear Readers,
I am happy to share some wonderful news with you. The Georgetown Lombardi Arts and Humanities Program (AHP) received its first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The NEA’s Office of Research and Analysis, through the Research Grants in the Arts program, awarded the AHP $64,000 to support research studying the effect of music on ICU patients’ neurologic and physiologic responses.
This grant, Recovery in the ICU: An Investigation of Music-induced Physiologic and Metabolic Changes that Promote Healing, aligns with AHP’s mission to encourage a creative and constructive response to illness, and to promote wellness. For more than 30 years, the AHP has brought the arts and humanities into the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in order to provide cura personalis, or care of the whole person.
This study is the result of many dedicated professionals working together to find a way to measure the impact of music on health. Planning for the grant began in 2018, when the AHP held its first international Music as Medicine Symposium at Georgetown University.
Recovery in the ICU: An Investigation of Music-induced Physiologic and Metabolic Changes that Promote Healing heralds an era of deep and broad-ranging research into the efficacy of integrating the arts and humanities into healthcare. Scientific research is one of the four pillars of the AHP. It informs our vital work in patient care, staff care and medical education.
However, it’s the involvement of YOU, our wonderful, global community, that excites us the most. Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletters and website, and for joining our classes and events. With you, we’re going to make 2023 the year of the arts and humanities! I look forward to seeing you online again soon.
In good health and friendship,
Julia Langley, AHP Faculty Director
FREE Online Classes from AHP
In our continuing response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our role in encouraging a creative response to illness, the AHP presents a line up of free virtual classes with some of our exceptional resident artists for MedStar Georgetown University Hospital patients, caregivers, staff members, students, and community members. Space is limited, so sign up today!
Mondays
- 10:30am ET – Monday Morning Yoga with Katie led by Katie Harris Banks
- 2pm ET – Creativity Jumpstart: De-Stress with Art led by Jennifer Wilkin Penick
Tuesdays
- 12pm ET – Expressive Writing Workshop via Zoom led by Michelle Berberet
- 1pm ET – Movement for MS with Deborah Riley & Alison Waldman (email abp89@georgetown.edu to register)
Wednesdays
- 10am ET – Knitting with Claire the Knitter (new window) led by Claire Wagner
- 1pm ET – Color Theory and Movement led by Lauren Brennan and Carrie Monger
- 2pm ET – Creativity Jumpstart: De-Stress with Art led by Jennifer Wilkin Penick
Thursdays
- 12pm ET – In the Studio with Lauren led by Lauren Kingsland
- 6pm ET – Extra Gentle Mat Yoga with Alison Waldman
Thank You!
The AHP was formed more than 30 years ago and continues today thanks to the generosity of many individuals as well as private and community organizations. If you are interested in making a gift to the Georgetown Lombardi Arts and Humanities Program, please contact Faculty Director, Julia Langley directly at (202) 444- 7228 or julia.langley@georgetown.edu.
We deeply appreciate your interest in the Georgetown Lombardi Arts and Humanities Program!
Sincerely,
Julia Langley, MA, MBA
Faculty Director, Arts and Humanities Program
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
“I made the decision to treat my cancer in a place 70 miles from home because I hoped that through the Arts Program I would find some part of myself again, that I would not drown in the fear of this disease.”
–Leslie, Cancer Survivor