1 Journal of Holistic Nursing American Holistic Nurses Association Volume XX Number X Month XXXX xx-xx © 2010 AHNA 10.1177/0898010109358768 http://jhn.sagepub.com jhn Art Interpretation as a Clinical Intervention Toward Healing Patrice Rancour, MS, RN, PMHCNS-BC, and Terry Barrett, PhD Art interpretation is described as a clinical approach in assisting individuals to move toward ever higher levels of wellness. Using it with healthy as well as ill individuals prompts participants to attend to the connection between themselves and the larger world. Asking individuals in a group setting to look closely at art, to make a connection between what they see and their own life experiences, can help them give voice to emotional experiences that help them connect to one another within a community. The exercise can sharpen perceptual and cognitive skills as well as provide the impetus to increase communication. Very often, participants responded to conversational prompts with new insights that were mediated through the use of the observed works of art. Making such connections, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and socially, is helpful in developing coping skills that teach such patients new ways to not only survive but also to thrive despite their health challenges. Keywords: art interpretation; coping; holistic care; cognition; communication; learning methods; health promotion; life experiences; loss; narratives Art is a wound turned into light. —Georges Braque The portal of healing and creativity always takes us into the realm of the spirit. —Angeles Arrien The intersections or common boundaries between disciplines often make the most fertile fields of inquiry. The happenstance meeting of an art education profes- sor and an advanced practice nurse working at a large university who share a similar curiosity about how people use art as a way to connect with themselves, with a larger community, and as a vehicle for healing created the fortuitous basis for an outreach and engagement project. The project proved to be illumi- nating, not only for the groups they served but also for themselves. As the collaboration unfolded, each partner brought something different to the table: the art edu- cator brought the language and techniques of the field of art education, and the nurse brought access to special populations and the language of health and healing. What follows is a description of how that collaboration progressed, its outcomes, and implica- tions for future work in the field of the application of art education in the pursuit of healing. Art Education and Art Appreciation Art education involves many endeavors including teaching people to make art and, perhaps more impor- tant, teaching people how to look at art and make sense of it as a means of seeing life differently through the visual expressions of artists. By “sitting with” a piece of art, really “watching” it, and observing what it evokes in one’s self, the observer learns something not only about the larger world but also about one’s own responses to that world, thereby forging a con- nection between internal and external experiences. Such connections can result in empathy and empow- erment, an exploration of how the art work affects one emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and viscerally, Author’s Note: Please address correspondence to Patrice Rancour, 1978 Glenn Avenue, Columbus, OH 43212; e-mail: rancour.1@ osu.edu.