Houston Methodist (Houston, TX)

Organization Name
Houston Methodist


Body

Houston Methodist understands the value and potential of partnering with the arts. Through its Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM), this hospital not only specializes in care for performing and visual artists, but it also integrates the arts into holistic patient care and employee wellness.

Since winning an Arts and Business Partnership Award (formerly BCA 10) in 2017, Houston Methodist has continued to grow its artistic programming through Arts Enrichment Classes specifically for staff. In the healthcare industry, employees face unique levels of stress and high turnover rates. To address issues of employee retention, the hospital developed artistic programming around resiliency. From its employee choir—which has performed at Houston Rodeo and Astros games—to creative writing and photography classes, Houston Methodist has established an environment where its staff can process, heal, and bond with their colleagues.

In 2018, the company launched Creative Arts Programming Classes through a partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. CPAM Project Manager Shay Thornton Kulha serves on a committee for MFA Houston and was able to produce the programs as a staff liaison. As part of a five-class series, employees are offered guided tours with docents and opportunities to create their own artwork in response to conversations about the work and artists. In May, they collaborated with MFA and the works on display from artist Lutisha Pettway, who repurposed materials like jeans and overalls from rural communities to create quilts. In thinking about entry points to the arts, Thornton Kulha saw the quilts as a way to bring in individuals who might not be familiar with or comfortable around art museums. Experiencing art is for everyone; and ensuring all employees would be able to think “this is for me, too” was an integral piece of the programming.

Below is a brief excerpt about the class from Thornton Kulha:

We started in the gallery space where a teaching artist divided the class into groups of 4. Each group was given a poem that led the learners to a specific piece of artwork. From there the group went stanza by stanza and examined the piece/ material/ etc. before learning a little more about the artist. I was surprised during this section with the group that I was in because I felt the piece was very dreary and foreboding and then when we learned about the artist’s intention, she described how optimistic and feminist the work was. Each of the group’s artwork was made from non-traditional materials and had an emphasis on social justice. After the discussion, we focused our attention on Lutisha Pettway’s Quilt made from worn farmworker’s blue jeans.

From there, the class went down to a studio space where each student made their individual quilt with scrubs collected across the hospital. Additionally, there was one group quilt that learners were encouraged to contribute to as they were working on their own piece. The group quilt was formed from a scrub jacket and someone placed a fabric heart over the chest of the jacket. It was great to focus on giving these non-traditional materials a second life.

A long-sleeved shirt created from scraps of scrubs, jeans, and other materials

After each session, CPAM conducts a survey about participants’ experiences in the class. Many questions focus on the overall effect of classes on employee burnout, specifically on areas like cognitive weariness and emotional toll. Through this data collection, the team at CPAM can make strong arguments to Human Resources in favor of its arts programming. A larger survey conducted at hospitals nationwide has also shown an increase in the amount of comments that speak positively about the classes. The data from both shows there has already been much success and the hospital would benefit greatly from more artistic opportunities. The team at Center for Performing Arts Medicine has already grown from two to twenty—a reflection of the transformational power of the arts to nurture resilience, compassion, and integrity.

 

A group of people site around long tables crafting with recycled pieces of scrubs and other materials