Huntsville Hospital Health System Joins NAP

The first ever NAP exhibition to be held in the state of Alabama opened at Huntsville Hospital Health System this past November with great success. The show, which featured more than 170 pieces from over 100 artists, completely filled the available wall space of the busy connector hallway between hospitals.  
Having never hosted an employee art exhibit previously, the triumph of their initial show can be directly attributed to the hard work and dedication that Melissa Lawson, Arts in Medicine Coordinator, has for the role the arts play in the healing environment.  After reseaching other arts and medicine programs, Melissa knew immediately that she wanted to bring this wonderful opportunity to the employees at Huntsville.  When she brought the idea of the program to the president of the foundation, Melissa learned that she already knew about the show from a hospital physician who was familiar with the NAP exhibit at Duke University.  Wasting no time, Melissa reached out to the NAP in January with the goal of hosting their first show in the fall of 2018.  
During the entire planning process Melissa was super positive and a pleasure to work with, even when she was facing the challenges of the unknown. One thing that she knew she didn’t have to worry about was the positive response that employees and their family members would have at the chance to share their artistic talents.  The day that their online registration went live, there were already people signing up and since the opening of the exhibit, there have been multiple Instagram posts by people sharing not only their own talents, but those of their family members and fellow employees.
Congratulations to everyone who helped make this show a reality. The NAP couldn’t have asked for a better first show in Alabama and we truly look forward to the continued success in the future!