Robin Glazer, Director of The Creative Center at University Settlement, back row, center, helped celebrate the artists, who included, front row, from left: Regina Scudellari-Ponemon, Barbara Polinsky, Cibele Vieira, and Desi Minchillo; and back row, from left: Marika Hahn, Sascha Mallon, Helen Dennis, and Nikki Schiro.
During an appreciation luncheon held on Wednesday, November 13, Mount Sinai Health System leadership, along with faculty and staff, celebrated nine talented artists who work at Mount Sinai through The Creative Center at University Settlement’s Hospital Artist-in-Residence Program providing art experiences to oncology patients and their caregivers as they receive treatment.
The event included vivid and inspiring stories about care and compassion, and the powerful impact art has on enhancing the patient and staff experience. The lunch, held in the Annenberg Center for Innovation and Discovery, was hosted by Sinai Spotlight, a Health System employee recognition and appreciation program sponsored by the Division of Talent Development & Learning, in partnership with the Mount Sinai Health System Office of Development.
The artists work in various locations throughout the Health System—both bedside and at outpatient units—helping patients, and even their visitors, to momentarily turn a traumatic, frightening, or overwhelming experience into one of joy, life, and positivity through art.
Artist Sascha Mallon, who has participated in the program for nine years, meets with inpatients at the bone marrow transplantation center and outpatients at The Mount Sinai Hospital. Ms. Mallon says she first determines their eagerness to participate, and then, their preferences.
“They make macramé and jewelry. They sculpt and paint. I find out what is exciting for them,” says Ms. Mallon. “I don’t see the illness—the doctors and nurses do. I see the healthy part of the patient, the strong part, the happy part.”