Next door to the busy emergency department at Monadnock Community Hospital is the Healing Arts Gallery, featuring exhibits of local and regional artists in media that include photography, painting, textiles, crafts, glass, ceramics and mixed-media work.

The gallery’s current exhibit, “Summer Splash,”  which opened with a public reception July 11,  is the first to feature the artwork of MCH’s own staff and their families. 

“The idea of hosting an employee art show has always been a priority for our committee,” said Healing Arts Gallery Committee Chair Katharyn Ernst in her opening remarks. “We are a family here at MCH, and I feel so proud of all of you who have taken a little risk and shown some faith and are exhibiting your work in the beautiful and safe space. As artists, some of you know firsthand that art and creativity can heal not just the body, but the soul.” 

Artists displaying work in the exhibit are Andrew Cook, Ollie Crawford, Michele Dupont, Amara Kanaparthi, Cathy Maki, Vicki Perkins, who was represented by her daughter, Jackie Coll; Jennifer Vallauri; Justin Ambrose;Kiara Burke; Caroline Gomez; Denise Lord; Alycia MacDuff; Jenny Scholl; Anne Marie Warren; and Leon Brassard. 

“At first, our committee was a little worried that this show would not display in cohesive way with so many different artists, materials and techniques represented. But magically, it has come together in harmony. We really are one cohesive group; working together at the hospital is what binds us together,” Ernst said. 

The Healing Arts Gallery Committee includes Soosen Dunholter, Wendy Parker,  Liz Kenney, Deb Jameson and Caroline Gomez. 

Amara Kanaparthi, a data analyst who recently moved to the Monadnock region from Andhra Pradesh in southeast India, is a self-taught artist who displayed watercolors of scenes from her homeland and colored pencils drawings of Indian birds. 

“This is the view from right outside the window in my home in India,” Kanaparthi said of a watercolor of a shrimp fisherman hoisting his net as the sun sets over the Bay of Bengal. “I love small details, trying to figure out how to do them in watercolor.” 

Kanaparthi said many of her works have a theme of sunlight, reminiscent of her home. Birds depicted  in her collection of drawings include Indian kingfishers and hummingbirds. 

Ollie Crawford, a staff housekeeper, said her work is inspired by digital images, which she recreates in pencil and acrylic. 

“I love bright colors, and I love doing portraits. I use acrylics, pencils and paint pens,” Crawford said of her dozen portraits in the exhibit. 

Jennifer Vallauri, who is a receptionist in the Orthopedic Department, explained that her resin mosaic “Leo” took a year to complete. 

“Every time I move one piece, it changes everything else,” Vallauri said. “But I love making mosaics. I get to smash glass and get my stress out, and then I get to create something beautiful.” 

The “Summer Splash”  employee art exhibit is on display at the Healing Arts Gallery until Sept 25. For information about the gallery, go to monadnockcommunityhospital.com/about-us/healing-arts-gallery.