Visual Arts | Penn Today

Person holding a sketchbook over a table with a human anatomy dummy.

When words aren’t enough, medical students go back to the drawing board

A Penn Medicine class helps students hone their visual art skills to help patients understand their medical treatment better via visual aids that bridge communication gaps and outline their care.

Woman cups a candle with a gloved hand. She is standing in a circle with other candle-holders in the snow.

26th annual MLK symposium goes online

Virtual events over three weeks offer opportunities to reflect, engage, and celebrate with family, colleagues, and friends.

Patricia Renee Thomas paints on a large canvas in her studio.

Graduate student artists persevere during pandemic and find new inspiration

Penn Master of Fine Arts students are not only adapting to this year’s challenges, but are pushing their work in different directions, as they continue to paint, draw, sculpt, photograph, and film during the pandemic.

Bronze sculpture of a large bust of a Black woman on Penn’s campus surrounded by autumn leaves

Towering bronze sculpture installed at the entrance to Penn’s campus

The generosity of Penn Alumni Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman has brought the work of noted artist Simone Leigh to the University of Pennsylvania.

Professors on the importance of integrating the arts into life and work

While there are some challenges, universities provide an environment for faculty to pursue both their artistic creativity and academic scholarship, said Penn professors in a Homecoming discussion led by Al Filreis of the Kelly Writers House.

Massive Simone Leigh sculpture now greets Penn students

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about “Brick House,” the newest sculpture on campus. “It’s a moment for Black women artists in particular. A lot of work by these women is being seen in the public sphere,” she said. “Black women sculptors are making really powerful pieces that take up a lot of space.”

Jill Krutick standing in her studio surrounded by paintings with a fluffy dog at her feet.

‘Homecoming at Home’ arts preview

For Homecoming 2020, the visual arts experience will be available online 24/7, including a virtual Gallery Hop.

Three-panel comic strip called E. Coli Chronicles, A Magical Friendship

Away from the lab bench, Khoa Tran is a ‘science superhero’

The research fellow in the Berger Lab and co-founder of JKX Comics makes science and STEM disciplines more accessible by translating abstruse concepts into approachable comics.

Two people, one sitting in the woods, and the other playing the drums.

Pew Center for Arts & Heritage awards 2020 grants to Penn projects

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage announced 41 grants totaling $10.5 million in support of the Institute for Contemporary Art and Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and a Girard College project involving theater director Brooke O’Harra and music composer Tyshawn Sorey.

Essays reflect on connections between art and medicine

Rx/Museum is a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and local art institutions that sends subscribers newsletters with artwork and accompanying essays. “We’re trying to weave an interesting multidisciplinary lens of clinical medicine and anthropology and social justice,” said Lyndsay Hoy of the Perelman School of Medicine.

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