Art as Medicine opens August 9, 2024
The Atrium Gallery at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston Campus will host a solo exhibition of USM alumnus Michael Libby from August 9 to September 27. Art as Medicine brings Libby’s creative expression and expertise in counseling and therapy together in this significant body of work.
Michael Libby earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the University of Southern Maine in 1992 and his Master of Science degree in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling from USM in 2017. He also earned a post-graduate certificate in Expressive Arts Therapies at Lesley University in Cambridge. A licensed Mental Health Counselor (LCPC-C) and Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC), Libby believes the answers to the current opioid epidemic and other serious related issues will evolve mostly from a community response.
“The art making process for me is about letting go and not taking it too seriously; it’s a process of unknowing, recollection, and recovery,” he said. “My time in the studio has taught me to trust disappointments, mistakes, and celebrate failures. These are the elements that make a painting successful. It’s a process of self-discovery that is playful — a serious kind of playfulness that’s interactive facilitating understanding, like the shadows dancing in the beautiful darkness on the walls of Plato’s cave.”
Gerald Walsh, executive director of LA Arts, partner with the Atrium Gallery, notes of Libby’s show, “Libby’s path that led to the practice of art as medicine has been one of wonder and fulfillment – every moment has been deeply reflective and full of integrity. This show represents the culmination of his long and continuous journey: a full circle that loops back to his origins when he paced and painted parking lots to cope with grief, actions and reflections that continue to inform Libby’s art and therapeutic practice. Although Michael didn’t know it at the time, his practice from the start was firmly situated in the paradigm of ‘art as medicine’ as outlined by Shaun McNiff who would become his mentor at Lesley University nearly 30 years later.”
The Atrium Gallery is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and is accessed through the main campus entrance at 51 Westminster Street, Lewiston, Maine. There is free, onsite parking.