UCSF Children's Hospital, de Young Museum Partner to Provide Teens Platform for Artistic Expression

By Shipra Shukla

The UCSF campus community is invited to attend a performance by UCSF Children's Hospital's teen patients at the de Young Museum on Wednesday, March 19 at 3 p.m.

The premiere performance is based on teens' experiences with chronic illness and hospitalization. The piece is a celebration of life and endurance, and shows how creativity and artistic expression support the healing process.

The museum is located at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. A question-and-answer session focusing on diversity issues and a reception will follow. Created with support from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and in collaboration with the Northwest School in Seattle, the performance piece will enhance the audience's understanding about the courage, fortitude and feeling of isolation teens often experience when hospitalized. "Having an outlet for expression is an integral part of the healing process," said Diana Farmer, MD, surgeon in chief of UCSF Children's Hospital. "The partnership with the de Young, which allows teen patients at UCSF Children's Hospital to share their experiences through art, leads to a greater understanding of chronic illness in our community." The performance is facilitated by UCSF Child Life Services. "We hope that in seeing the performance, people will understand better what it's like to be a hospitalized teen. We especially hope teens will attend," said Michael Towne, coordinator of Child Life Services at UCSF Children's Hospital. San Francisco's oldest museum, the de Young Museum is particularly recognized for its many educational arts programs for children and adults. Its collections include American paintings; decorative arts and crafts; art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas; and Western and non-Western textiles. The de Young reopened in a new state-of-the-art facility in Golden Gate Park on Oct. 15, 2005. The partnership with UCSF is linked with the de Young's core curriculum project which focuses on aligning art targeting young people with the California state standard for education requirements in social studies, language arts and visual arts. In fact, one of the de Young's artists, Lisa Hubbard, teaches art through Child Life Services. Museum officials view the upcoming performance as part of its longstanding partnership with UCSF Children's Hospital. "We're very aware of the community in which we operate, and we want to be able to provide a forum for all teens to express themselves," said Emily Doman of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Related Links: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco