Inner Visions Art Show Benefits Parkinson Disease

Sarasota’s Institute for Advanced Medicine Features Over Fifty Local Paintings
April 29, 2009 (Sarasota, Florida) – An art show and sale benefiting Parkinson Disease programs in Sarasota is being held now through May 16 at Sarasota Memorial’s Institute for Advanced Medicine (5880 Rand Boulevard). The show features works from four local women’s professional artist organizations: the National League of American Pen Women, Petticoat Painters of Sarasota, Women Contemporary Artists and the National Sumi-e Society. Member artists are selling 52 paintings ranging from $260 to $4,800. Thirty percent of each sale will be donated by the artists to the local Neuro Challenge Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization benefiting Parkinson Disease projects in Sarasota and surrounding communities.

Elizabeth Bornstein of the Sarasota Memorial Healing Arts Open Studio is an exhibitor at the Inner Visions art show, as well as a full time counselor in Oncology at Sarasota Memorial. “This exhibit reflects back to my belief in the healing power of creativity,” says Bornstein, who weaves artistic expression into her counseling practice. “This is a way of bringing together a number of groups in a collaborative effort.”

Many people living with Parkinson Disease report that painting and other creative endeavors temporarily relieve their symptoms. Several programs nationwide showcase the therapeutic value of creativity for Parkinson patients, such as The National Parkinson’s Disease Foundations’s Creativity and Parkinson’s Project. Irv Knowlen, local multimedia artist and Parkinson Disease survivor, says “The making of art is a process of experiment, discovery, and making choices. It can continue throughout your life as it has mine.”

Sarasota Memorial’s Institute for Advanced Medicine and the Neuro Challenge Foundation are proud to celebrate artists supporting Parkinson Disease research through this special exhibit at The Inner Visions Art Show.About The Neuro Challenge Foundation: The Neuro Challenge Foundation, led by Physician Advisor and Sarasota Neurologist Dean P. Sutherland, M.D., Ph.D., and Foundation President Doreen Sutherland, is dedicated to the fight against Parkinson Disease. The Foundation, operated entirely through volunteer time and charitable donations, maintains a full-service, state-of-the-art Parkinson Disease Center in Sarasota, Florida. At the Center, patients and families can receive free surgical and non-surgical treatments, counseling, health and fitness advice, home services and more. The Center offers a level of care that rivals major university medical centers. Patients seen at the Parkinson Disease Center have access to the latest information, medications, surgeries, diagnostic tests, rehabilitation services and alternative therapies. As a result, the reputation of the Center has grown by leaps and bounds, extending to the entire state of Florida and beyond.