Fourteen Dalhousie medical students worked literally from dusk to dawn recently to complete 2 murals that explore images and themes from the science and practice of medicine. The 8' х 16' and 8' х 8' acrylic-on-wood murals gracing the walls of their student lounge were completed during a day-long art marathon that lasted until sunrise on March 21. Led by Jeffrey Burns, artist-in-residence with the Medical Humanities Program at Dalhousie University, Halifax, the perenially time-pressed students liked the idea of a marathon. Although art marathons are held at other universities, creating a mural was definitely “more ambitious,” said Burns, a professor at Mount Allison Universiy in Sackville, NB. The students opted to use imagery from biology, nature photography and the medical sciences. The square mural depicts a “real and fantastic place” where science is integrated into the natural setting, while the rectangular mural is a composite of more abstract individual projects. “The challenge was to make that mural cohesive,” says Burns, who is “very happy” with the results. “The students were really committed to it and it has generated a lot of buzz. The mural will live on and be a point of discussion about humanity and the arts,” said Burns, who has been “exploring the territory where art and medicine converge” for several years. The marathon was supported by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
— Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ