MUSC art to comfort, inspire

In a hospital setting, the stress level can be high, not only for those who are ill, but also for those who care for them and for the loved ones who wait. Sometimes a distraction designed to call attention to the beauty of the outer world can be a saving grace, even for a moment.

Now, art has become an integral part of the Medical University of South Carolina, most recently manifested in the form of photographs and sculpture.

In the halls of the Education Center/Library on the MUSC Horseshoe off Ashley Avenue, a photographic collection provides a glimpse into the soul of the institution and illustrates one of its goals: to serve people from all over the state.

Decorating the walls are such subjects as the elderly Lilly May Thomas, who for many years has worked (and still does) as a cook on a private 12,000-acre plantation in Wiggins, near Beaufort; a textile worker in a cotton mill in Bennettsville, his eyes reflecting the resignation of a shrinking local cotton industry; Elfton Dorsey, a Georgetown trucker showing the pride in owning his own business; and Staff Sgt. Stacy Parsall at Charleston Air Force Base, who just returned from a tour in Iraq, where she served as an official battle photographer.

The 60 photographs embody "Palmetto Portraits," a project two years in the making. An MUSC arts committee selected six photographers to produce 10 photographs each.

MUSC President Raymond Greenberg, who serves on the MUSC Art Committee and Palmetto Portraits Committee, said, "In creating this collection to display within MUSC's educational and clinical buildings, the university hopes to remind students, faculty, staff and visitors of those they serve throughout South Carolina."

To add to the history of our state, a set of the prints also will be donated to the permanent collection of the State Museum in Columbia.

"We wanted to represent the entire state, but for the 2006 exhibition, the photographers are largely in the Lowcountry," Charleston native Jack Alterman of Alterman Studios, says as he guides a visitor around the MUSC halls one afternoon. "But for the display next year, we have more photographers from the Upstate and the Midlands."

Joining MUSC in the sponsorship are the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston and the S.C. State Museum with a goal to produce 300 photographs by 30 photographers over five years. For the project, photographers' expenses were paid, and each was given a small honorarium.

One photograph of which Alterman is especially proud is of Libby Armstrong, known for her television advertisements for Mama's Used Cars.

"I would see that ad on TV all the time, and I thought, 'Here is an ordinary, private citizen whose face is famous, but nobody really knows her name,' " says Alterman, who then called Armstrong to see if she would be willing for him to come by her house and take her to the median on Savannah Highway to be photographed at dusk in front of Mama's Used Cars.

"When I got to her house on James Island, she was ready, all dressed up in a pink suit," Alterman says of the 87-year-old Armstrong. "I put a chair out there ... and as I was shooting her, people were leaning out of their cars during rush hour yelling, 'Hey, Mama!' and waving, just like they really knew her."

In addition to Alterman, the 2006 photographers are: Jon Holloway, Greenwood; Phil Moody, Rock Hill, and Nancy Santos, Mark Sloan and Michelle Van Parys, all of Charleston. Photographers to have their work ready in late 2007 or early 2008 are: Nancy Marshall, McClellanville; Vennie Deas-Moore and Kathleen Robbins, both of Columbia; Sam Wang, Clemson; Carolina Jenkins, Greenwood and Milton Morris, Charleston.

Hollings Center sculpture

"There is a point of grace and elegance in a bird's flight when the wing is at its weakest and most vulnerable — a point of recovery before the next push of a power stroke to soar forward," said world-renowned wildlife artist Grainger McKoy as he dedicated his sculpture "Recovery Stroke" at the Hollings Cancer Center on March 30.

The sculpture, designed to honor the courage of people who battle cancer, is in the pavilion of the center. The artist has said it is meant "to inspire and comfort cancer patients during their fight against this insidious disease."

"Recovery Stroke" was commissioned by Hal S. Currey, Margaret Schachte and the trustees of the Joanna Foundation, founded by William H. Regnery and Walter Regnery.

McKoy is known for his wildlife sculptures, but his work is rarely seen by the public as it is most often commissioned by private individuals for their homes.

To the right of the sculpture are the words of poet Emily Dickinson: "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all."

Contact Dottie Ashley at dashley@postandcourier.com.