WALL\THERAPY

A community-level intervention using murals to address our need for inspiration.

Images Heal Cities

Dr. Ian Wilson wanted to give back to Rochester, the city that has given him so much. In 2011, he staged the first “Visual Intervention,” bringing four artists from South Africa to Rochester, NY to paint. A year later n 2012, the manifestation of that thank you evolved into WALL\THERAPY, a community level intervention using mural art as a vehicle to address our collective need for inspiration. During this week-long festival, 11 street artists (“wall therapists”) from across the globe painted (“rehabilitated”) 16 walls, healing the city with new life and energy. The intervention beautified our urban landscape, ignited a community dialogue and inspired Rochesterians to view the Image City, a moniker originally attributed to Kodak, in a proud new way.

Images Save Lives.

While WALL\THERAPY heals cities through art, its sister initiative, IMPACT! (IMProving Access to Care by Teleradiology), does its healing by setting up diagnostic imaging sites in developing countries. The connection between art and the medical philanthropy is imagery. Street murals enhance life. Medical X-ray imagery preserves it. Both entities are housed under the Synthesis Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) public charity incorporated in New York State. The organization raises funds to set up teleradiology services within these developing communities and grow a network of volunteer radiologists around the world. These doctors use cloud computing to access images, interpret them and recommend treatment. As a result, afflictions that are commonly misdiagnosed, or missed entirely, are properly diagnosed, saving countless lives. Artists travel to these communities as well, improving life with inspirational murals.

These walls are our vehicle for inspiring and rehabilitating our community. We are intervening visually to address a fundamental collective need of our citizenry, the need for inspiration. Over the last four years, we have welcomed more than fifty-five local, national, and international artists to join us and create even more inspiration throughout our city and we’ve created more than 100 murals in that short time. This app offers a year by year overview of the murals throughout our city.

For more information: http://www.wall-therapy.com

Created with Google Open Gallery: http://www.google.com/opengallery