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Page 4
A p ril 2, 2014
Intersecting Two Passions: Art and Medicine
Doctor works to
promote diversity
A Portland physician is adding her in­
fluence to Oregon culture and the arts.
Dr. Nathalie McDowell Johnson is the
newest member of the Oregon Cultural
Trust Board after her nomination earlier
this year by Gov. John Kitzhaber.
A surgical oncologist at the Legacy
Cancer Institute and medical director of
the Legacy Breast Health Centers, Johnson
started her professional life as a dancer
with the Ballet Theatre of the Virgin Is­
lands.
She remembers a summer with the
company in New York City, which in­
cluded time with dancers from Alvin
Alley’s theatre. “Watching those men and
women’s lives, the rigors, tryouts, rejec­
tions... I decided medicine was probably
easier,” she said with a smile.
A graduate of Howard University, she
went on to attend medical school at The
University of Virginia and do residency
and surgical internship at University of
Southern California.
Though she says she still dances, “at a
good party,” Johnson’s medical practice,
women’s breast health, and education
about breast cancer has become her pro­
fessional crusade.
Johnson’s own mother, Lucy George,
survived breast cancer in Johnson’s child­
hood, an experience that had a profound
influence on her. George also instilled in
Dr. Nathalie Johnson wants to increase access to the arts for underserved
populations, especially young people. A surgical oncologist and medical director
of the Legacy Breast Health Centers, Johnson started her professional life as a
dancer with the Ballet Theatre of the Virgin Islands.
young Nathalie the importance of the arts.
Growing up on St. Thomas, Johnson
recalled that her mother, “enrolled us in
ballet, took us to plays, the opera, mu­
sicals. She made sure to expose us
because, as the daughter of a domestic
and a railroad worker in the 40s, these
were things she dreamed of but could
not access.”
Johnson comes to the Cultural Trust
Board with a goal of increased accessi­
bility for underserved populations, es­
pecially young people.
“I would love to make sure all Or­
egonians have the opportunity to take
part in the culture, art and heritage that
is available,” she said. “My mother
taught us that, with imagination and
creativity, there is no time for bore­
dom.”
Johnson has a keen eye on the inter­
section between her two passions, art
and medicine. The Legacy Cancer In­
stitute incorporates art therapy into its
programs for children and adults. “Be­
ing able to express yourself through art
or music is healing,” said Johnson.
Music is also played in the institute’s
Intensive Care Unit, which Johnson
says, “slows the heart rate and im ­
proves the breathing,” for critically ill
patients and those at the end of life.
“Music actually decreases their need
for pain m edication,” she said. The
peace and tranquility the arts provide,
“can make a big difference in health
outcom es.”
Trust Board Chair Bob Speltz was in­
trigued by Johnson’s perspective as a
physician. “Dr. Johnson understands the
very tangible ways in which access to
culture ties directly to improved quality of
life,” said Speltz. “Her steadfast commit­
ment to expanding access to and partici­
pation in culture in Oregon is extraordi­
nary, and her earlier life as a dancer gives
her a context for culture as a viable career
choice.”
MMMK
PassinArt
Presents
TWO OLD BLACK GUYS
JUST SITTING AROUND TALKING
B y Bus E dwards
DIRECTED BY SAW BUHGISS
March 13 - April 13,2014
7:30pm Friday & Saturday
3:00pm Sunday matinee
A Special Matinee
Panel Discussion
Saturday, April 5th &
Sunday, April 6,2014
with Playwright
Gus Edwards
photo by
after 3:00pm performances
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H u m a n itie s
This program was mode possible w ith the support o f
'Ixedent, (ntertatniog, True to life"
'Loved Iti"
IHL
kbm
C ollins
FOUNDATION
I t was eery hilarious; the gentlemen
did an outstanding performance.
Interesting piece well performed. '
■Very tender story that won me over by the end'
c o m RIBUTING MUSICAL ARTISTS. The Norman Sylvester Blues Band!
ETHOS/Irec • 5340 N INTERSTATE AVENUE PORTI AND OREGON
G e n e r a i A d m issio n S20, S en io r
and
S tu d en ts S15 • T ickets a v a ila b le
w w w . pas sin art . org
S teel B rooks
Pamela Chipman created a video wall at the new Magnolia housing complex at 3250 N.E. Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard, that pays tribute to the Eliot neighborhood’s “golden years’’ which she
refers to as 1941-1957 when jazz and a vibrant black community was nearly inescapable.
Jazzfrom the Past
less than $ 10,000, Chipman says
she particularly wanted to high­
fittingly, and other everyday light the black life that existed
scenes from the ever-chang­ and continues to exist in the area,
ing com munity.
something she says “embodies
Completed on a contract of the soul of northeast Portland”
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
As the once-booming neigh­
borhood hub of African-Ameri*
can business and culture contin­
ues to see rapid changes, high­
lighted by a bundle of new con­
struction projects, C hipm an
hopes she can help bring similar
art ventures to the neighborhood
that acknowledge its history.