Adria Klausner, Artist in Residence

Adria

In Memory of Adria Klausner

Adria was an artist in residence in the Arts in Medicine program at Shands from 1996 to 2017.  She worked mainly on the Mother/Baby and Labor&Delivery units, facilitating arts and crafts with expectant mothers on bed rest. She said that when she showed them how to paint a baby T-shirt, or embroider a bib, the beaming smiles and the warm thanks were her rewards.

Adria did pastel portraits of moms-to-be. She also reached out to the Gainesville community by doing portraits at the St. Francis House, a homeless shelter; Tacachalee, a state residence for handicapped adults; and the local Veterans Administration.

Adria was a board member of the Jordan Klausner Foundation, which supports the Gainesville Conductive Education Academy (GCEA).  Conductive Education is a therapeutic method developed in Budapest, Hungary, to help children with neuro-muscular disabilities, (especially cerebral palsy) achieve independent lives.

Prior to coming to Gainesville, Adria had exhibited her art in Chicago and its suburbs.  In Gainesville she attended painting courses at the University of Florida.  She has exhibited her pastels and acrylics in various galleries in Gainesville, Cedar Key and Jacksonville.

In 1999 she helped organize a cultural exchange between Italian artists from Pisa and AIM’s artists.   In 2009 Adria participated in a group show in Tallahassee, FL, “Artfully Aging:  Lifelong Learning through the Arts.”

Why Arts in Medicine?

When Adria retired to Gainesville, she wanted to devote more time to her first love, painting. At the same time, she wanted to assist people in pain by doing some volunteer work, preferably in a hospital. In her own experience, painting had helped her surmount personal tragedies by enabling her to express her pain and sorrow on canvas. Arts in Medicine at Shands offered her an opportunity to aid people through the arts.

Links

www.jordanklausnerfoundation.org