Calling All Artists: Submissions Due for 10th Anniversary CUIMC Fine Arts Exhibition

If you ever wish you had a place where your inner artist could shine, the medical center’s annual art exhibition invites students, faculty, staff, and their families to put their creative talent on display. Submissions for the 10th annual CUIMC Fine Arts Exhibition are due April 15.

Event organizer Irina Kulichenkova, GSAS’18, says artists of all skill levels who work in all types of media are welcome to submit work for consideration. The 2019 exhibition will open with a reception at 5 p.m. on April 26 in the Hammer Health Sciences Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), located on Hammer’s Lower Levels 1 and 2.

“Last year, more than 100 people—medical students, staff, and faculty, and their family members—submitted more than 250 beautiful pieces of art that enriched our community,” says Kulichenkova, who is now working a Master of Science degree in narrative medicine at CUIMC’s Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics.  “I love this event because it combines my calling—science and medicine—with my passion, which is art. I hope that my colleagues can be inspired to participate too.”

How to Submit Your Work

All students, faculty, and staff of CUIMC and Columbia University, and their family members, may submit one or more pieces of art for consideration by contacting Irina Kulichenkova at ik2385@columbia.edu. The email should include the following:  

1. The artist’s name
2. The artist’s CUIMC or CU position/affiliation: (school, graduation year, specialty, department, etc.)
3. The title, medium, and dimensions of each work
4. Any special display requirements
5. An artist’s statement that includes information about the artist, the artwork, and what inspires the artist’s creativity. The statement should be no more than 350 words.
6. A photograph of each piece you wish to submit

If a submission is selected for inclusion in the exhibition, the artist will receive an email with instructions for delivering the art to the Hammer Health Sciences Center.

Those whose work is chosen for the exhibit also may submit the work to be featured on a brochure that promotes the exhibition. Anyone interested in entering art for brochure consideration should send a high-quality photo of the work to ik2385@columbia.edu.  

The medical center has a long tradition of celebrating the arts. Starting in 1951, students and employees of the Columbia health science schools and Presbyterian Hospital displayed artwork in an annual exhibit, complete with “Best in Show’’ awards. It is not known when those shows ended, but Archives and Special Collections has no record of them after 1993.

For more information about the event, visit the Columbia Fine Arts in Medicine website.