The Healing Power of Art

September 15, 2020

Throughout history, people have turned to art for inspiration, solace, escape, and healing. Scientific studies around the world have confirmed what artists and art lovers have instinctively known: art has the power to heal. In fact, the National Library of Medicine reports more than 23,000 articles on the topic of art therapy have been published in the past 10 years.

Concordian and self-taught sculptor Elisa Adams began sculpting in 2004. Her work is exhibited worldwide as well as in national museums and galleries, and she has won numerous awards. A practicing chiropractor for 35 years, she sees art and the healing process going hand in hand. “Art is so important in the healing process that in my office I have a rotating gallery for my patients to enjoy.” The main comment from my patients is, “I feel so peaceful from the moment I enter your clinic.” Elisa not only balances her professional life with art making, she is also the current President of the New England Sculptors Association.

The Summer Issue is Here!

As our nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this issue explores the people, ideas, and stories that continue to shape its legacy. Inside, Professor Robert A. Gross offers fresh perspective in “A Referendum on Independence,” while a special foldout guide, “Following in Thoreau’s Footsteps,” invites you to explore the landscapes that inspired him. Discover an unexpected connection in “A Tale of Two Authors,” revisit the moving story of “A Hawthorne Homecoming,” and enjoy summer events, arts, and ways to experience Concord firsthand.

A Referendum on Independence

The road to American independence took time to complete, and Massachusetts, despite its reputation as a vanguard state, was not always in the lead. In 1775, even after the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, most Patriot leaders were still seeking restoration of colonial rights within the British empire. Thomas Paine broke the logjam with the publication of Common Sense early the next year. The instant best-seller argued the case for separation by appealing to economic and political self-interest, emotional resentment of a brutal and oppressive king, and a utopian vision of America as “an asylum for mankind.”

A Hawthorne Homecoming

Two white horses pulled the hearse into Concord’s Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, a top-hatted driver at the reins. A band of mourners followed on foot as they made their way toward Authors’ Ridge.Except for the bright sunshine, this scene wouldn’t seem out of place in a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. But it happened a mere twenty years ago, on June 26, 2006. That was the day Hawthorne and his wife and daughter were reunited after his death separated them 142 years earlier.