To Lift our Spirits: Inspiring Art

CARAVAN Board Member Bassem Bejjani shares his top pick.

Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World, 1948, Egg Tempera on gessoed panel, 81.9x121.3cm

As a physician, I find this scene very inspiring. Here is Christina, a young woman with a genetic neuro-degenerative disease (most likely Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease) who seems to be trying to crawl to her house across a field. This image personifies the human spirit that always strives to move forward toward its goal despite seemingly insurmountable difficulties.

Andrew Wyeth on "Christina's World"

The work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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Bassem A. Bejjani, MD is Vice President of CARAVAN and Chief Medical Officer of Metis Genetics, a telegenetics counseling service company. He is on the Board of Trustees of The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle.  He is also trustee of the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and immediate past Chair of the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA).  Dr. Bejjani has served on the Board of the Spokane Symphony where he was Executive Vice-President. A graduate of the American University of Beirut, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, he is a pediatrician and a medical geneticist. As Clinical Professor at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medical Sciences at Washington State University, he helped establish the genetics curriculum for the first class of medical students. He is co-founder of Signature Genomics, a genomics laboratory that was acquired by PerkinElmer, Inc. in 2010.  He is interested in arts and science education and the role of art in enhancing creativity, scientific learning and critical thinking.