{"id":5394,"date":"2025-05-16T15:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T19:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/giving\/?p=5394"},"modified":"2025-05-20T08:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T12:14:08","slug":"the-power-of-art-and-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/giving\/2025\/05\/16\/the-power-of-art-and-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Art and Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Carol<\/a>
Carol Chase Bjerke \u201965<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For Carol Chase Bjerke \u201965, time spent at Bates set the stage for her artistic career. Carol was a visual artist and educator whose work is anchored in her love of mountains and rock walls, intertwining with self-expression, communication, healing, and change themes. Now, thanks to a recent gift from her husband, Lee Bjerke, her work continues to inspire and teach as part of the Bates Museum of Art’s collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already, Carol\u2019s multimedia art has been used in ways that carry forward her legacy as an artist-educator. It was recently featured in the exhibition ARRAY: Recent Acquisition Series<\/em><\/a>. Students in K-12 schools in the Lewiston \/ Auburn area have viewed and discussed her original work, which includes a series of Leaf Poem monographs on gelatin silver photographic paper that<\/span> connect landscape and poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Carol embarked on her Life Boat<\/em> series, also now in the Bates Collection, she brought together the power of art and healing. Describing the collection in 1997, she wrote, \u201cSomewhere amidst the enormous number of thoughts and images that crowded my mind in the hours following my first cancer diagnosis was the childhood memory of rowing a boat.\u201d Work from this series complements works by other artists dealing with these issues and are used regularly in a museum collaboration with the Maine College of Health Professions. Students use the museum\u2019s collection to practice deep-looking sessions when they spend time developing observation and communication skills across health care disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Lee<\/a>
Lee Bjerke shares Carol\u2019s work with Associate Collections Manager\/Registrar Corie Audette and Education Curator & Interim Operations Manager Anthony Shostak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Carol\u2019s<\/a>
Carol\u2019s husband, Lee Bjerke.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Carol\u2019s memory will also live on through the Carol Chase Bjerke \u201965 Financial Aid Fund<\/em>, which Lee established in her memory through a combination of current gifts and an estate commitment. The fund is truly a shared tribute to Carol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the generosity of her family, Carol\u2019s legacy will continue through a gift of art, which generations will enjoy, and an endowed scholarship that will allow future Bates students to embark on their own creative journey for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Get in Touch<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Our Gift Planning team is here to help. Please reach out with any questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n