HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE

AMERICAN PHYSICIAN ART ASSOCIATION

   Many physicians throughout history have been involved in creative avocations such as painting, drawing, sculpting, photography, handcrafts, music, dancing and other art forms. In the United States, it was not until 1936 that physicians had an organization in which they could exhibit these creative visual art ventures. At that time, the American Physicians Art Association was founded by the late Francis H. Redwell, M.D., a San Francisco urologist and talented marine painter. He and several other physician artists had the first exhibition of the APAA at the convention of the American Medical Association in San Francisco in 1937.

   For many years, an annual exhibit and meeting was held in conjunction with the AMA annual convention, but when they no longer held these meetings after 1978, the APAA established an association with the Southern Medical Association. Since then, the annual exhibit and meeting has been with the SMA's fall Scientific Assembly and Meeting. The initial shows were sponsored by various drug companies, including Mead-Johnson, Merk-Sharp and Dohnme and later by advertising by individual companies, in the past few years, however the show has been sponsored by the membership of the SMA itself. The generosity of the SMA Convention Committee and Association, both financially and morally, have made the continuation of th3e annual exhibits and meetings possible.

   A professional artist has been employed as a show director for many years, and our current show director, Ken Jewesson, has assisted with the exhibits since 1976. These outstanding annual shows combined with the professional artistic presentations at the meetings, and the continued membership support is a tribute to his expertise and interest in the APAA. New members have been encouraged to join and exhibit their work at local and regional societies as well as at the national level.

   Dr. Charles Best and Sir Fredrick Banting, joint Noble Prize winners for their discovery of insulin, have been honorary members of the APAA. Other famous members and past presidents include sculptress Alma Dea Morani, M.D. of Philadelphia, Meyer Melicow, M.D. of New York, Max Thorex, M.D. of Chicago, Joseph F. Montague, M.D., from New York, Rise Delmar Oschner, M.D., of Santa Barbara, and Howard C. Coggeshall, M.D., of Dallas. There have been many other noted physician artists that belonged to the APAA.

   During the 1950's , the APAA exhibition was put on tour by the Salk Institute in an effort to raise funds for that worthy cause. An outstanding calendar with juried APAA member works was distributed by Sibel/Mohr (Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceutical Co.) in 1992. Mr. Jewesson has taught Visual Arts of Medicine postgraduate courses at the SMA conventions. The opening show at the Morani Art Gallery in Philadelphia in 1993 was by winners of the APAA Annual Exhibit.

   In 1998, the APAA had its first "mini-exhibit" with the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress and has had a booth nearly every year since. Current membership of the APAA is about 250 members and in 1996 at our annual exhibit in Baltimore more than 110 works were exhibited. Only non clinical material is presented in the form of painting, drawing, computer art, photography, crafts and sculpture, all being contributed by physicians from all parts of the country. Any physician who is interested in the visual arts is encouraged to join the APAA.

Below is photograph from the 1942 APAA exhibition which was published by Mead Johnson & Co in Parergon, which is from a Greek word meaning "work by the side of work".  Dr. Howard Coggeshall was a prior president of the APAA.