Art Forum: Art and Healing

On December 18 at 7:30 pm, join Rhea Banker, Marianne Connolly, and members of Gallery A3 for a Zoom discussion of ART & HEALING. As part of the Art and Healing Program sponsored by The Friends of Cooley Dickinson, eleven artists from the local cooperative Gallery A3 exhibited their work in the hospital’s North Gallery. Beginning and ending 2025, six artists exhibited work during January and February, while the other five have work on display in November and December. The program presents a conversation with Rhea Banker about the Art and Healing Program at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and also looks at her own work as a photographer. We will also see one image by each of the eleven artists who participated in the exhibits and invite the artists to say what it meant for them to show their art in a hospital setting. Paula Hite, Evelyn Pye, Rochelle Shicoff, Diane Steingart, and Janet W. Winston are exhibiting in November/December. At the beginning of 2025, in January/February, Marianne Connolly, Laura Holland, Karen Iglehart, John Krifka, Nancy Meagher, and Larry Rankin displayed their work. ABOUT RHEA BANKER Rhea Banker is a photographer and award-winning book designer. Much of her work is based on journeys to far rocky edges of the world, including Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Greenland, and Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego. Her abstract studies of patterns within the Earth’s ancient surfaces have been exhibited in a variety of museums, galleries, and cultural centers, including locations in Copenhagen, Denmark; Edinburgh, Scotland; Scotland's Outer Hebrides; New York, New York; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and several museums in Greenland. Rhea's most recent work is focused on explorations along Greenland's west coast over the last five years. These images are responses to the deep connections she experiences between stone, sea, and ice as we witness a new epoch in the life of our fragile planet. She has also done site-specific work and has permanent installations for the Stornoway Airport, Isle of Lewis; Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Scotland; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York; and the University of Pennsylvania Berks Campus, Pennsylvania. Register for the Online Art Forum The Art Forum is held on Thursday, December 18 at 7:30 pm. Pre-register on the gallery website (www.gallerya3.com) for this online event, which is free and open to the public. This program is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Pelham Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Facilitated by Marianne Connolly of Gallery A3.