30 YEARS OF HEALING THROUGH THE ARTS

UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine is the largest program of its kind in the country

THIRTY YEARS AGO, the UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine program, or AIM, transformed our health care environment by bringing the arts into the hospital setting. The programs — based in the visual, literary and performing arts — serve inpatients and outpatients of all ages, while also focusing on families, visitors and our health care workers.

AIM team members facilitate art activities, workshops and performances in all five of our Archer Road hospitals and numerous outpatient clinics, and our program is internationally known as one of the tops in the field of arts in health care.

And it all started in 1990 when the hospital administration and AIM creators laid the foundation for the artist in residence program, while the UF College of Medicine began a small exhibition program. The eventual union of these two initiatives led to the expansive program that exists today.

AIM : A LOOK BACK

“We have worked very hard over the past two decades to reach our potential and stay out front and provide leadership both nationally and internationally in the field of arts in health. We’re seen as a model for programs all over the world.”
— Tina Mullen, director and co-founder, of the UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine program

Marilyn Maple, Ph.D., a local writer and filmmaker who was heavily involved during AIM’s origination, left, and John Graham-Pole, M.D., UF Health pediatric hematologist/oncologist, right, brought laughter workshops to UF Health that helped patients and health care workers relieve stress.

(L to R) UF nursing professor Mary Rockwood Lane, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, and AIM Artist in Residence Lee Ann Dodson created the Healing Wall in 1996, drawing inspiration after the death of a 15-year-old cancer patient named Michelle Channing. The Healing Wall continues to be a showpiece in the UF Health Shands Hospital Atrium.

AIM — Tina Mullen, director and co-founder of the UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine program, stands amongst the Florida Orchestra, which performed in the UF Health Shands Atrium on March 7, 2017.

AIM — Bravery Beads is a program that allows children with life-altering illnesses to collect special beads to commemorate each procedure or event they must endure throughout treatment.

AIM — Amy Bucciarelli, M.S., ATR-BC, LMHC, a board-certified art therapist, helped Jack Murray paint small, three-dimensional pieces that they had sculpted during a previous visit. Bucciarelli works with pediatric patients at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital.

On April 30, 2020, AIM held a “Shift Change Serenade” where artists in residence played music and sang in different outdoor areas on the UF Health campus as health care workers arrived or left for the day.

AIM musician in residence Michael Claytor enjoys interacting with patients and tries his best to accommodate every musical request.