Among the soft sounds of students strumming their guitars and the quiet chatter of individuals, volunteer artists displayed art pieces that showcased the negative side of America’s healthcare system.
The UCA honors program offers real-world experiences and reflections on issues that are important to people’s lives.
On April 18, the Honors Core II class offered up an art show that showcased its own students’ pieces as well as volunteer artists who brought to life the harsh realities of the healthcare system with artwork, photography and poetry.
Celeste Rea-Garibay is a freshman majoring in biology who is a part of the Honors program but also created her own pieces that were in the show.
She expressed the importance of this topic and how art can bring about awareness.
“It’s a lot more visual so people can understand it a little easier and it [art] brings awareness in a format that maybe they haven’t seen before, so it makes it interesting,” Ree-Garibay said.
Freshman Kallie Hudnall, who is also a member of the Honors program and is studying psychology, said, “As far as raising awareness, we are coming together to benefit our community which can really impact a cause.”
The depth of this event expanded beyond students’ own experiences as lots of the creations were inspired by friends and family members, as well as highlighting the importance of this topic and the range that it affects individuals.
Collages, paintings and colored pencils were just some of the mediums used throughout the show, expressing the experiences of addiction, financial stressors and health concerns all felt within the health system.
Rea-Garibay, who had both an art piece and a poem in the show, expressed her inspiration behind the pieces.
“It symbolizes the overall education on healthcare and how it can be detrimental to a patient’s health to not be knowledgeable. The poem is about a family friend who has gone through what a lot of families have gone through in the United States while having health insurance. Having what you’re supposed to and it still not being enough,” said Rea-Garibay.
An excerpt from Rea-Garibay’s poem reads, “The system said, ‘It’s what things cost,’ as if their savings should be lost for needing care, for staying well — a silent, spiraling carousel.”
Not only was there art to be seen, but art to be heard.
Junior and PA for the Honors class, Sam Carlisle and freshman Parker Stane played their guitars as their own art form as they discussed the importance of these kinds of events.
“Just for people to come together and focus on a specific thing even with something fun like art and they can have more of an opportunity to understand what’s going on,” Carlisle said.
Stane continued by saying, “People can interpret and talk about something that may be deemed too political.”
Carlisle touched on the importance of the class in general by expressing the value of his experiences.
“The main thing is seeing the value in people and that’s been a big focus in the class and then right now we’ve been looking at healthcare and how we can help with that,” Carlisle said.
While this event was a part of the Honors class, it was clear how passionate and the importance students felt about the topic at hand.
While combining the significance of people, health and nature in general, Stane said, “Go outside, make art, go fishing, play the guitar and be good.”
