Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Hosted Famed Photographer William Wegman

Posted in News Release

WASHINGTON (January 29, 2015) — Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Arts and Humanities Program today welcomed famed photographer, painter and author, William Wegman for the opening of “William Wegman: Out of the Box.”

The public reception and book signing was held in the Georgetown Lombardi atrium where 27 Wegman photographs are on display until March 15. During the event, Wegman donated five of his photographs to the cancer center.

“It’s hard to look at one of William Wegman’s Weimaraner photographs and not smile ear to ear, and that’s exactly the reaction we expect from our patients when they visit the cancer center and see his exhibit,” said Georgetown Lombardi Director, Louis M. Weiner, MD. “We are grateful for the joy Mr. Wegman has brought to Georgetown.”

All photographs in the exhibit are for sale (excepted those donated) with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Arts and Humanities Program, which promotes an optimum life experience for patients, family members and caregivers with activities, resources, education and environments that encourage a creative and constructive response to illness.

“William Wegman is an artist of depth, integrity and humor,” says Julia Langley, director of the Arts and Humanities Program. “We are thrilled to show his work at Georgetown Lombardi where it will give everyone who visits or works here a new way of looking at things. Great art belongs where there is great human need.”

Earlier in the day, Wegman visited privately with pediatric oncology patients at Georgetown Lombardi where he read from his new children’s book, “Flo & Wendell Explore.” He joined the children as they made puppets of the Flo and Wendell characters. Hope for Henry and Tracy’s Kids art therapy program co-hosted the event and provided copies of his book, pizza and Georgetown Cupcakes.

About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Georgetown Lombardi is one of only 41 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.

About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis — or “care of the whole person.” The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health.

###