- Art and Be Healed (2026-2027)
- Current Exhibitions
- Past Exhibitions
Welcome to the landing page for "Art and Be Healed: A Year of Art and Medicine." During the academic year 2026-2027, Ebling Library will celebrate the diverse intersections of the arts and the health sciences through events, workshops, lectures, historical exhibitions, and art exhibitions. This page will be updated periodically as more events are added.
If you would like to partner with Ebling Library on an event, please contact the Historical Services department.
Upcoming Events: Fall 2026
Ongoing Exhibitions
Craft/Work: A History of Art and Occupational Therapies
September 8, 2026 - December 17, 2026
Historical Reading Room
Drawn from Ebling Library's medical history collections, Craft/Work traces the intersections of psychiatry, disability rights, social work, and art across three centuries to explore how art- and craftmaking affect our wellbeing. The exhibition moves from the French Revolutionary origins of “moral treatment” in asylums to the emergence of occupational therapy from the Arts and Crafts and Settlement House movements to the surprising influence of Bauhaus emigrés on theories of art therapy.
Please note that the exhibition includes materials that use outdated and potentially harmful language to refer to a variety of mental and physical disabilities. Please take care when attending.
Press Photographs from the Milwaukee Curative Workshop
September 8, 2026 - December 17, 2026
Ebling Library Gallery Spaces
September 2026
Craft/Work Exhibition Opening Reception
September 16, 2026
Ebling Library Second- and Third-Floor Spaces
4pm to 7pm
Join Ebling Library’s Curator of Historical Collections for a reception and exhibition open house in celebration of the opening of Craft/Work: A History of Occupational and Art Therapies. Guided tours of the exhibition will take place at 4:30pm and 5:30pm.
Look, See, Perceive: An Eye-Opening Pop-Up Exhibition
September 23, 2026
Ebling Library Historical Reading Room
3pm to 5pm
A pop-up event exhibiting ophthalmology and optometry materials from the Ebling Library Historical Collections. Presented in conjunction with the Vision Gallery of the McPherson Eye Research Institute at the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research.
October 2026
Art Cure Book Club Discussion
October 14, 2026
Virtual
12pm to 1pm
Ebling Library and CHASM offer book discussions for health science students, staff, and faculty. This month, the group will read Daisy Fancourt's new book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives. "From professor Daisy Fancourt, an award-winning scientist and science communicator and director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health, this book will fundamentally change the way you value and engage with the arts in your daily life and give you the tools to optimize how, when, and what arts you engage in to achieve your health goals. The arts are not a luxury in our lives. They are essential."
For further information, including to sign up for notification when registration opens, please see the Ebling Library and CHASM Book Discussion Club website. A limited number of books via in print or via Kindle may become available.
Craft/Work Exhibition Open House, Wisconsin Science Festival
October 16, 2026
Ebling Library Historical Reading Room
12pm to 5pm
Join Ebling Library’s Curator of Historical Collections for an exhibition open house of Craft/Work: A History of Occupational and Art Therapies, presented in conjunction with the Wisconsin Science Festival. Further information is available on the Wisconsin Science Festival website.
November 2026
LET THERE BE LIGHT Film Screening
November 6, 2026
UW-Madison Cinematheque
821 University Ave Madison, WI 53706
6pm to 7pm
Suppressed and unseen for decades, Huston's powerful documentary chronicles the rehabilitation of psychologically traumatized World War II veterans, revealing the human cost of war with uncommon empathy. Presented at the UW-Madison Cinematheque in conjunction with the exhibition Craft/Work, open in the Ebling Library Historical Reading Room from September 8 through December 17.
Craft/Work Exhibition Veteran's Day Pop-Up and Open House
November 11, 2026
Ebling Library Historical Reading Room
Time TBD
Join Ebling Library’s Curator of Historical Collections for an exhibition open house of Craft/Work: A History of Occupational and Art Therapies. Additional materials related to military medicine and veterans' health in history will be displayed in celebration of Veterans' Day.
Towards a Bookish History of Occupational Therapy
November 20, 2026
HSLC 3330
12pm to 1pm
Join Hannah Swan, Ebling Library’s Curator of Historical Collections, for a lecture on the intersections of bookmaking, book arts, and occupational therapy. From an 18th-century print shop designed for Blind printers to the surprising connections between Kelmscott Press and early American occupational therapists, the lecture will uncover the hidden bookish histories of occupational therapy.
December 2026
Craft/Work Exhibition Tour and Open House, HSMT Brown Bag
December 4, 2026
Ebling Library Historical Reading Room
12pm to 1pm
Join Ebling Library’s Curator of Historical Collections for a tour and open house of Craft/Work: A History of Occupational and Art Therapies. The guided tour is presented in conjunction with the Brown Bag program sponsored by the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology group at UW-Madison.
Current Exhibitions: Spring 2026
New Exhibition Coming Soon!
Past Exhibitions
