Latest news with #FineArtsMuseum
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Frida Kahlo photo exhibit brings rare personal images to Hagerstown
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts is set to host a major exhibition featuring personal photographs of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The exhibition, titled "Frida Kahlo: Picturing an Icon," will run from June 14 to Oct. 5, according to a community announcement. It will showcase 115 images from a collection of 450 photographs and objects acquired in 2003 by Vicente Wolf, a Cuban-born interior designer based in New York City. Wolf is believed to own the largest known collection of personal and family photographs of Kahlo in private hands. "My intention was to focus on the most iconic and emotionally resonant images — those that best capture Frida's presence, her aura and the complexity of her personal life," Wolf said in the announcement. "I was especially drawn to those that offered an intimate glimpse into her world, particularly those taken by Diego (her husband, Mexican artist Diego Rivera), which feel charged with both affection and insight. My goal was to create a portrait of Frida that goes beyond the myth — to reveal the woman, the artist and the vulnerability behind the legend." The museum has created a specially designed space for the exhibition, using a color palette taken from a photograph of Kahlo for Vogue Magazine, according to Executive Director Sarah J. Hall. All interpretive materials for the exhibition will be presented in both Spanish and English, and the museum has planned complementary activities, including Latin classical music performances, diary-making workshops and summer camps. "We want our visitors to be inspired by Frida's spirit by tapping into lived experience to make art," Hall said in the announcement. Wolf said that he hopes visitors will gain a deeper understanding of Kahlo through the exhibition. "It's one thing to see her art; it's another to see the life that fueled it," he said in the announcement. The exhibition is organized by Vicente Wolf Associates from Wolf's collection. Major funding has been provided by Nora and Bruce Wilder and the Visit Hagerstown & Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and is closed on Mondays and major holidays. Admission and parking are free. For more information, go to or call 301-739-5727. This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. The Herald-Mail is growing its local news: Send your news to us This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Frida Kahlo exhibition coming to Hagerstown museum
Los Angeles Times
24-03-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Stressed? Sick? Swiss town lets doctors prescribe museum visits as art therapy for patients
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland — The world's woes got you down? Feeling burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness or prep for surgery? The Swiss town of Neuchatel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free. Under a new two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are covering the costs of 'museum prescriptions' issued by doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to any of the town's four museums as part of their treatment. The project is based on a 2019 World Health Organization report that found the arts can boost mental health, reduce the impact of trauma and lower the risk of cognitive decline, frailty and 'premature mortality,' among other upsides. Art can help relax the mind — as a sort of preventative medicine — and visits to museums require getting up and out of the house with physical activity such as walking and standing for long periods. Neuchatel council member Julie Courcier Delafontaine said the COVID-19 crisis also played a role in the program's genesis. 'With the closure of cultural sites [during coronavirus lockdowns], people realized just how much we need them to feel better.' She said so far some 500 prescriptions have been distributed to doctors around town and the program costs 'very little.' Ten thousand Swiss francs (about $11,300) have been budgeted for it. If successful, local officials could expand the program to other artistic activities such as theater or dance, Courcier Delafontaine said. The Swiss national healthcare system doesn't cover 'culture as a means of therapy,' but she hopes it might one day, if the results are positive enough. Marianne de Reynier Nevsky, the cultural mediation manager in the town of 46,000 who helped devise the program, said it built on a similar idea rolled out at the Fine Arts Museum in Montreal, Canada, in 2019. She said many types of patients could benefit. 'It could be a person with depression, a person who has trouble walking, a person with a chronic illness,' she said near a display of a feather headdress from Papua New Guinea at the Ethnographic Museum of Neuchatel, a converted former villa that overlooks Lake Neuchatel. Part of the idea is to get recalcitrant patients out of the house and walking more. Dr. Marc-Olivier Sauvain, head of surgery at the Neuchatel Hospital Network, said he had already prescribed museum visits to two patients to help them get in better shape before a planned operation. He said a wider rollout is planned once a control group is set up. For his practice, the focus will be on patients who admit that they've lost the habit of going out. He wants them to get moving. 'It's wishful thinking to think that telling them to go walk or go for a stroll to improve their fitness level before surgery' will work, Sauvain said on a video call Saturday, wearing blue scrubs. 'I think that these patients will fully benefit from museum prescriptions. We'll give them a chance to get physical and intellectual exercise.' 'And as a doctor, it's really nice to prescribe museum visits rather than medicines or tests that patients don't enjoy,' he added. 'To tell them 'It's a medical order that instructs you to go visit one of our nice city museums.'' Some museum-goers see the upsides too. 'I think it's a great idea,' said Carla Fragniere Filliger, a poet and retired teacher, during a visit to the ethnography museum. 'There should be prescriptions for all the museums in the world!' Keaten writes for the Associated Press.
Arab News
24-03-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Stressed? Sick? Swiss town lets doctors prescribe free museum visits as art therapy for patients
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland: The world's woes got you down? Feeling burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness or prep for surgery? The Swiss town of Neuchâtel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free. Under a new two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are covering the costs of 'museum prescriptions' issued by doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to any of the town's four museums as part of their treatment. The project is based on a 2019 World Health Organization report that found the arts can boost mental health, reduce the impact of trauma and lower the risk of cognitive decline, frailty and 'premature mortality,' among other upsides. Art can help relax the mind — as a sort of preventative medicine — and visits to museums require getting up and out of the house with physical activity like walking and standing for long periods. Neuchatel council member Julie Courcier Delafontaine said the COVID crisis also played a role in the program's genesis. 'With the closure of cultural sites (during coronavirus lockdowns), people realized just how much we need them to feel better.' She said so far some 500 prescriptions have been distributed to doctors around town and the program costs 'very little.' Ten thousand Swiss francs (about $11,300) have been budgeted for it. If successful, local officials could expand the program to other artistic activities like theater or dance, Courcier Delafontaine said. The Swiss national health care system doesn't cover 'culture as a means of therapy,' but she hopes it might one day, if the results are positive enough. Marianne de Reynier Nevsky, the cultural mediation manager in the town of 46,000 who helped devise the program, said it built on a similar idea rolled out at the Fine Arts Museum in Montreal, Canada, in 2019. She said many types of patients could benefit. 'It could be a person with depression, a person who has trouble walking, a person with a chronic illness,' she said near a display of a feather headdress from Papua New Guinea at the Ethnographic Museum of Neuchatel, a converted former villa that overlooks Late Neuchatel. Part of the idea is to get recalcitrant patients out of the house and walking more. Dr. Marc-Olivier Sauvain, head of surgery at the Neuchatel Hospital Network, said he had already prescribed museum visits to two patients to help them get in better shape before a planned operation. He said a wider rollout is planned once a control group is set up. For his practice, the focus will be on patients who admit that they've lost the habit of going out. He wants them to get moving. 'It's wishful thinking to think that telling them to go walk or go for a stroll to improve their fitness level before surgery' will work, Sauvain said on a video call Saturday, wearing blue scrubs. 'I think that these patients will fully benefit from museum prescriptions. We'll give them a chance to get physical and intellectual exercise.' 'And as a doctor, it's really nice to prescribe museum visits rather than medicines or tests that patients don't enjoy,' he added. 'To tell them 'It's a medical order that instructs you to go visit one of our nice city museums.'' Some museum-goers see the upsides too. 'I think it's a great idea,' said Carla Fragniere Filliger, a poet and retired teacher, during a visit to the ethnography museum. 'There should be prescriptions for all the museums in the world!'
The Independent
23-03-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Stressed? Sick? Swiss town lets doctors prescribe free museum visits as art therapy for patients
The world's woes got you down? Feeling burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness or prep for surgery? The Swiss town of Neuchâtel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free. Under a new two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are covering the costs of 'museum prescriptions' issued by doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to any of the town's four museums as part of their treatment. The project is based on a 2019 World Health Organization report that found the arts can boost mental health, reduce the impact of trauma and lower the risk of cognitive decline, frailty and 'premature mortality,' among other upsides. Art can help relax the mind — as a sort of preventative medicine — and visits to museums require getting up and out of the house with physical activity like walking and standing for long periods. Neuchatel council member Julie Courcier Delafontaine said the COVID crisis also played a role in the program's genesis. 'With the closure of cultural sites (during coronavirus lockdowns), people realized just how much we need them to feel better.' She said so far some 500 prescriptions have been distributed to doctors around town and the program costs 'very little." Ten thousand Swiss francs (about $11,300) have been budgeted for it. If successful, local officials could expand the program to other artistic activities like theater or dance, Courcier Delafontaine said. The Swiss national health care system doesn't cover 'culture as a means of therapy,' but she hopes it might one day, if the results are positive enough. Marianne de Reynier Nevsky, the cultural mediation manager in the town of 46,000 who helped devise the program, said it built on a similar idea rolled out at the Fine Arts Museum in Montreal, Canada, in 2019. She said many types of patients could benefit. 'It could be a person with depression, a person who has trouble walking, a person with a chronic illness,' she said near a display of a feather headdress from Papua New Guinea at the Ethnographic Museum of Neuchatel, a converted former villa that overlooks Late Neuchatel. Part of the idea is to get recalcitrant patients out of the house and walking more. Dr. Marc-Olivier Sauvain, head of surgery at the Neuchatel Hospital Network, said he had already prescribed museum visits to two patients to help them get in better shape before a planned operation. He said a wider rollout is planned once a control group is set up. For his practice, the focus will be on patients who admit that they've lost the habit of going out. He wants them to get moving. 'It's wishful thinking to think that telling them to go walk or go for a stroll to improve their fitness level before surgery' will work, Sauvain said on a video call Saturday, wearing blue scrubs. 'I think that these patients will fully benefit from museum prescriptions. We'll give them a chance to get physical and intellectual exercise.' 'And as a doctor, it's really nice to prescribe museum visits rather than medicines or tests that patients don't enjoy,' he added. 'To tell them 'It's a medical order that instructs you to go visit one of our nice city museums.'' Some museum-goers see the upsides too. 'I think it's a great idea,' said Carla Fragniere Filliger, a poet and retired teacher, during a visit to the ethnography museum. 'There should be prescriptions for all the museums in the world!'
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Stressed? Sick? Swiss town lets doctors prescribe free museum visits as art therapy for patients
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland (AP) — The world's woes got you down? Feeling burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness or prep for surgery? The Swiss town of Neuchâtel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free. Under a new two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are covering the costs of 'museum prescriptions' issued by doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to any of the town's four museums as part of their treatment. The project is based on a 2019 World Health Organization report that found the arts can boost mental health, reduce the impact of trauma and lower the risk of cognitive decline, frailty and 'premature mortality,' among other upsides. Art can help relax the mind — as a sort of preventative medicine — and visits to museums require getting up and out of the house with physical activity like walking and standing for long periods. Neuchatel council member Julie Courcier Delafontaine said the COVID crisis also played a role in the program's genesis. 'With the closure of cultural sites (during coronavirus lockdowns), people realized just how much we need them to feel better.' She said so far some 500 prescriptions have been distributed to doctors around town and the program costs 'very little." Ten thousand Swiss francs (about $11,300) have been budgeted for it. If successful, local officials could expand the program to other artistic activities like theater or dance, Courcier Delafontaine said. The Swiss national health care system doesn't cover 'culture as a means of therapy,' but she hopes it might one day, if the results are positive enough. Marianne de Reynier Nevsky, the cultural mediation manager in the town of 46,000 who helped devise the program, said it built on a similar idea rolled out at the Fine Arts Museum in Montreal, Canada, in 2019. She said many types of patients could benefit. 'It could be a person with depression, a person who has trouble walking, a person with a chronic illness,' she said near a display of a feather headdress from Papua New Guinea at the Ethnographic Museum of Neuchatel, a converted former villa that overlooks Late Neuchatel. Part of the idea is to get recalcitrant patients out of the house and walking more. Dr. Marc-Olivier Sauvain, head of surgery at the Neuchatel Hospital Network, said he had already prescribed museum visits to two patients to help them get in better shape before a planned operation. He said a wider rollout is planned once a control group is set up. For his practice, the focus will be on patients who admit that they've lost the habit of going out. He wants them to get moving. 'It's wishful thinking to think that telling them to go walk or go for a stroll to improve their fitness level before surgery' will work, Sauvain said on a video call Saturday, wearing blue scrubs. 'I think that these patients will fully benefit from museum prescriptions. We'll give them a chance to get physical and intellectual exercise.' 'And as a doctor, it's really nice to prescribe museum visits rather than medicines or tests that patients don't enjoy,' he added. 'To tell them 'It's a medical order that instructs you to go visit one of our nice city museums.'' Some museum-goers see the upsides too. 'I think it's a great idea,' said Carla Fragniere Filliger, a poet and retired teacher, during a visit to the ethnography museum. 'There should be prescriptions for all the museums in the world!'
