WCSH6 covers opening of 'Your Brain on Art'

WCSH6 News covered the March 8th opening of "Your Brain on Art," a collaborative exhibition by the Biddeford arts organization Engine and the UNE's Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences (CEN).

The story reported that the exhibit coincides with  national Brain Awareness Week March 11-17 and will involve other activities and events.

As part of the exhibition, which opened at the Engine Gallery in Biddeford, UNE art professor Sarah Gorham is exhibiting work portraying her and her father’s journey following his diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor and his ultimate passing because of the cancer. Gorham discusses the experience in the WCSH video.

The exhibition also features award-winning artists who have been impacted by brain injury, trauma or chronic pain, including Jon Sarkin, Nancy Andrews, Karen Musick, and Jenn Shifflett.

Commenting on the exhibition, Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., associate provost for research and scholarship and CEN founding director, explains in the video that "the brain makes us human - so even seemingly small changes in the brain chemistry and the re-wiring of the brain after an injury can change fundamentally who we are."

Cathy Plourde, director of of UNE's Add Verb Productions, Holly Haywood, UNE senior multi media specialist, and Mike Vickery, UNE simulation and technology specialist, also have works from the Portraits of Pain series, created for UNE's upcoming InterProfessional Education Collaborative 2013 Spring Symposium, titled "The Science of Pain and The Art of Healing."

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.