4th Annual Huntsville Hospital Health System NAP Exhibit

Melissa Lawson, Coordinator of the Huntsville Hospital Health System National Arts Program Exhibit, displayed their 4th annual show from October 18 through December 16 this year. Although Huntsville was still unable to have an in-person reception the artwork continued to be installed in their hallways each year straight through the pandemic. Melissa commented that she is, “so glad to be a part of this program. It is a highlight for the year. I love to hear employees and their family members say how much the show means to them.”

Melissa, who brought the program to their health system, tells us how, “each year I learn things and adapt”. We imagine that all the visitors and participants that enjoy these art exhibits each year don’t think about just how much work coordinators do behind the scenes to pull them off! Melissa is one of those wonderful coordinators that isn’t afraid to experiment and learn each year to make the inner workings of the program more efficient and ultimately a better experience for the artists. Aside from the logistics of promoting, collecting, organizing, hanging, labeling and judging all the work, there are so many details that must be thought of. Some of the little things Melissa does make a big difference! A few examples include keeping wire on hand for drop off to facilitate accepting pieces that otherwise might not be ready to hang, experimenting with drive-up drop offs to see if that might make things more streamlined for the artists and hanging artwork by classification to help ease the workload on the judges. She is also always looking for new ways to promote the show in order to include more employees and family members each year.

We can’t thank Melissa enough for all her efforts and look forward to the continued success of the NAP at Huntsville Hospital Health System in Alabama!