In the early 2000s, Heather Rodale ’74 ’76G ’05P was standing at a New York City hospital window overlooking the East River. The water’s slow movement, the shifting clouds, the voluminous sky, and the interplay of sunlight and shadows brought her a sense of tranquility. She was battling a stage 3 cancer diagnosis and found great peace in soaking up the natural world.
It prompted her to wonder how such scenes aid healing, so she began to investigate the topic. While not much research was out there, a study from the 1980s illustrated the profound impact nature played: shorter hospital stays, less reliance on pain medication, and increased hope.
Rodale, who comes from a family of artists and entrepreneurs, set her mind to work. If medical science is focused on treatments and cures, and individual patients and their families are more focused on restoring harmony to mind, body, and spirit, how might Rodale find balance between the two?
She found that balance, creating moments of hope and healing for patients, through the nonprofit she founded: Healing Through The Arts.
Beauty and Teaching
Rodale has a knack for relishing the natural world. The beauty of Lehigh’s campus felt spiritual to her when she transferred to join the first women of Lehigh.
“It felt like a blessing to walk on campus,” she says. “It is still so lovely.”
Like her father, Robert Rodale ’52, she studied journalism. She stayed on to earn a master’s degree in education and then began a career in teaching. She paused for a moment to raise her four children, but she remained focused on helping others, sponsoring a three-generation family of 12 from Kosovo resettling in the Lehigh Valley.
She leveraged her teaching connections when she launched Healing Through The Arts. The organization offers classes and events and holds an annual art show. For the inaugural art show at the Banana Factory, she asked high school art teachers to submit student work that would be donated to medical facilities.
Danny Moyer, an art teacher at Whitehall High School, responded. At the time of their introduction, Moyer had a student on a cancer journey who was completing schoolwork at home. At the same time, Moyer’s mother was battling breast cancer. He introduced the mission of Healing Through The Arts to his students.
“Rodale presented the opportunity for empathetic students to bring a moment of comfort, peace, and joy to patients and their families dealing with illness,” says Moyer. “Of course, the students said yes.”
Work from his students made up the bulk of that first show. Then as those students graduated and wanted to continue participating, Rodale added college artists to the call for the annual show.
15th Juried Art Show
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the show. Over the years, the number of teachers involved, student participants, pool of art, and medical facility recipients have grown tremendously. The network of art classrooms involved crosses the valley. Hospitals, nursing homes, hospice centers, counselor offices … over 40 sites seek to display the work.
Abby Shumgart, an art teacher at Tamaqua Area High School, experienced the impact of Healing Through The Arts as a sophomore at Lehigh Carbon Community College. “The opportunity to contribute my artwork to local medical facilities ignited a passion for sharing this experience with others,” she says.
When she began teaching, she sought to integrate Healing Through The Arts into her curriculum. “Witnessing my students embrace this initiative has been incredibly rewarding,” she says.
Brianna Keiser, an art teacher at Palmerton Area High School, met Rodale as a student at Lehigh Carbon Community College. Her story influenced Keiser to pursue art education as a career path. Keiser has witnessed the impact of the show.
“I always enjoy seeing the different artistic interpretations of what hope and healing looks like through students’ eyes,” she says. “I have heard viewers marvel at the diverse gallery of student artwork, and all of my students truly enjoy being able to use their creativity to give back to their community and help others.”
College of Health Connection
Beth Dolan, dean of the College of Health, travels along Route 29 to the Healing Through The Arts Center, where she and two other judges will select pieces for the annual art show. There are more than 100 works to consider. Each has an artist statement to explain the connection between the art, the artist, and health and healing.
In addition to selecting pieces to display, Dolan and the other judges choose five award winners.
Rodale sought Dolan’s guidance when she launched Healing Through The Arts. It seemed natural for Dolan to host the annual art show at the new HST building. She saw how well the missions aligned between Healing Through The Arts and the College of Health.
Dolan also sought the assistance of the professionals at Lehigh University Art Galleries to help install the show. She was thrilled that Lehigh After Dark held an event in the exhibit space that invited students to make art and talk about its healing power, led by Lehigh photographer and Healing Through The Arts board member Christa Neu.
Lehigh students jumped at the chance to participate and submitted pieces to be considered for inclusion in the show — one even earned a judge’s award.
But selection was not easy.
“There were a variety of styles — oil, watercolor, mixed media, digital, and photography,” says Dolan. “The artists’ statements were powerful. Each piece had to be considered by looking at the fine detail, from a distance, and in groups with other pieces. All while discerning what could hold a viewer’s attention in a waiting room or treatment space.”
Andrew Tsen ’05, neurosurgeon at Lehigh Valley Health Network, who also served as a judge, has a hope to bring the art to the waiting room at his office. “While I don’t have an artistic background and the thought of selecting art for the show intimidated me, there were so many good pieces for so many different reasons,” he says.
With his medical background, Tsen appreciates how the art takes a different approach to healing than traditional Western medicine. He also appreciates how the show can foster discussion among a wide array of community members at the College of Health.
“These students are working together across our community for a good cause… it’s worth seeing,” says Tsen.
Beautiful Offering
Creating a lovely piece of art that evokes comfort, calm, and safety takes time and makes it difficult to part with.
“Each piece is a gift,” says Rodale.
While the students can receive a photo of their work, the art is donated to Healing Through The Arts, where it is stored until an organization visits the center to review the pieces and select what will be displayed on its walls.
“These students show an amazing faith in art,” says Dolan. “Being able to let go of something they created, knowing it will hold the attention of a person they never meet who is facing the challenges of a health issue and bring a moment of relief … What a beautiful offering.”
