54 | FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE 1:15 P.M. >> A STATE-OF-THE-ART GOAL My work in the arts is tangential to my day-to-day job but related to my faculty post as associate professor. I think about where there is an issue in health, health sciences or healthcare in general. I have a new art piece that is a visual and tactile representation of the lived experiences over the span of a year of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with depression and PTSD. Whatever the artwork is, the idea is to create. The arts, whether visual, dance, theater, music or other outlets, create this fairly egalitarian place where individuals can come together. Irrespective of whether they clean the streets, drive our light rail or spend their day in an operating room as a surgeon, they can come around an art piece and have a conversation. My ambitious goal is to help generate dialogue, reflection and contemplation, and spur new ideas and relationships within and among people who come from similar and divergent areas in life. 2 P.M. >> IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER From the university president on down, there has been a focus on whole-person healthcare. One way in which we work to teach and train this is through medical humanities and the arts. We have a beautiful Steinway piano in our Zirulnik with Creighton medical students and a nursing student in the lab. The ‘Outsider Artists from Havana’ exhibition seeks to reduce social stigma associated with mental illness by highlighting artistic, social and cultural awareness of outsider art by individuals living with mental illness. Artwork photos by Errin Johnson Michael L. Zirulnik (b. 1981) ‘SignalBlocks’ ©, 2024 Wood, latex paint ‘SignalBlocks’ illustrates a year of one veteran’s life living with depression. Defining the feeling each number represents — from zero, most depressed, to 10, least depressed, and recording his state of depression before bed each night, the work attempts to communicate life with depression in a new, dimensional way. The year’s data set is transformed into this series of 365 blocks. A lusterless, monochromatic color choice enables the eye to track this lineal display undulating across space, a representation of time and toil.

FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE | 55 lobby that was gifted to the university. It is there so our students, faculty and staff can play whenever they want because we know the arts allow different types of cognition to happen. This can include contemplation and reflection, but also reflection and development, which is a huge economic driver. Our faculty and students are innovating and we’re trying to create spaces for that to happen. This might be a new medical device that saves or improves the life of one of our family members. Creighton’s president, Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, was serious about seeing the arts in the building. Every floor has commissioned works of art to infuse and reinforce the value of humanities and the arts. On the first floor, we have a rotating art gallery. Our most recent exhibit was “Outsider Artists from Havana.” They’re called outsider artists because they’re self-trained. These seven artists live with one or multiple severe mental illnesses. This is work they are compelled to create, and it offers a glimpse into their insights, minds and lives. 3 P.M. >> THE TEACHER BECOMES THE STUDENT One to two days a week during the academic year I am in the classroom. This is the thing that fills my soul. It is the time when I not only teach but get to learn from our students who are worldly, smart and have great ideas. It’s also the place that keeps me grounded and reminds me why every single one of us here on campus has a job. I am a huge advocate for education, whether formal or informal. I love not only learning personally, but seeing people grow and develop and being a part of that process. 6 P.M. >> IN LINE When I get home, I have dinner with family and go for a walk with our dog, Kai. After catching up with friends over the phone, I’m either back on email, writing or in the garage working on an art piece. People comment that I have done many things when looking at my various careers and roles. There’s a thread through all of it, and that is in service of others. I realized early in life how quickly life can be fleeting. I do stuff that I think is valuable or important. To learn more, go to creighton.edu . Artwork by Isaac Crespo Artwork by Jorge Alberto Hernendez Artwork by Jose Moreno Artwork by Yaniel Agrafojo Sanchez Artwork by Misleidys Castillo Artwork by Gloria de la Caridad Garcia Damian Valdes Dilla OFFICE DOORS