TAMIU “Be Well Project” Donates Artwork to LMC Healthcare Workers

Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) College of Arts and Sciences visual art students completed a series of paintings, screen prints and ceramics to donate to local healthcare workers at Laredo Medical Center.

Members of the Laredo Medical Center administrative team welcomed the donations in a socially distanced and masked event Friday.

On hand to deliver the student-created works of art were Jesse Shaw, Josias Figueirido and Emily Bayless, TAMIU assistant professors of Art, respectively.

Dubbed the “Be Well Project” the idea came from a CBS Sunday Morning news story on Steve Derick, an amateur artist from Clifton Park, NY who wanted to find a way to pay back the front-line workers in his area who were treating COVID -19 patients, explained Dr. James Moyer, associate professor of Music and chair of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at TAMIU.

“I know first-hand the hours nurses put in during normal times, who are now working 12 to 15-hour shifts, risking themselves as they battle the Coronavirus. It seemed to me that we here at TAMIU could present a similar act of appreciation using the skills of our art students. I talked with the faculty as soon as they returned to campus and we began right away on the ‘Be Well Project,’ ” said Dr. Moyer.  

This is the second-round of artwork donated to local healthcare heroes. Most recently, a donation was also made to Doctors Hospital of Laredo. The “Be Well” project is made possible through the University’s Act on Ideas initiative.

Part of the “Be Well Project” was the work of printmaking students who compiled masked “selfie” photos submitted to the Visual Arts department by students across the University. The photos were then compiled into a grid with the “Be Well” message printed onto each poster.

Since the project’s inception, well over 200 silkscreen posters have been created.

For additional information on the “Be Well Project” contact Moyer at 956.326.2654, email james.moyer@tamiu.eduor visit https://www.tamiu.edu/coas/fpa/.  

Laredo Medical Center administrative staff and health care workers received a series of paintings, screen prints and ceramics created by TAMIU students as part of a special, student-led endeavor known as the “Be Well Project.” On hand to deliver the student-created works of art were TAMIU Visual Arts Department faculty members.