"SOME PEOPLE" Celebrates 5th Year Anniversary
Multiverse project continues to impact healthcare legislation, policy and practices in the name of betterment and equality | By Kimberly J. Soenen
("Strife." Photo by Paul Gilmore.)
Dear Readers,
Five years ago on this day, I opened the "SOME PEOPLE" group exhibition in Chicago. The exhibition, programs and lectures were scheduled out for two years through 2022 at that juncture, including a large scale opening at The French Embassy in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2020. An array of other exhibitions and programs at universities, medical schools and photography venues across the United States were also scheduled.
This interactive exhibition was like no other.
We hung the majority of the show at 30 inches so persons in wheelchairs could see the images and art and read the captions with ease. We printed the captions in an 18 point font so persons with compromised vision might be able to read the captions and full essays. We engaged the city of Chicago to participate in an art installation called "Hanging By a Thread" to address medical debt bankruptcy. We scheduled custom private tours of the galleries for disabled persons who requested special accommodation. We invited medical students, nurses, physicians and Emergency Medicine medical professionals to write essays on how they defined health. We made sure there was a freight elevator for large electric wheelchairs and accessibility measures considered at every turn.
Leaders from pharma, biotech and teaching hospitals visited the show, in some cases, multiple times. Many, often expressing tears of joy, anger, sadness and awe.
The work is not about one illness, it is about the way in which human beings treat one another. We are not endorsing a policy, we are trumpeting the need to transform Health Philosophy by rethinking healthcare as a foundational cornerstone of economic dignity, equality and equity rather than a commodity traded on Wall Street.
The work celebrates birth, strife, interconnectivity, athleticism, vulnerability, elders, End of Life and love. It celebrates the potential of the human body and mind when supported by lifelong health maintenance without barriers, bias and Denial of Care.
We introduced new vernacular around healthcare in the United States and began publishing the terms "Board Room Violence" rather than "Corporate Malfeasance"; "White Collar Healthcare Crime" rather than "Healthcare Fraud"; and, we educated attendees and stakeholders (meaning: The Patient) about "Denial of Care Harm-for-Profit" by PxDx and nH Predict rather than promoting business as usual.
The opening night attendance was record-breaking and the run was extended because of interest and demand. Then, in early February of 2020 I received a call from a friend at Johns Hopkins: "Everything is going to come to a standstill," he said. "A tragic standstill with tragic outcomes and unforeseen byproducts."
At the time when this work was most vital, our tour was preemptively cancelled. Despite it, since then, our work has changed legislation, policies and practices and we have launched more digital and live modules.
To all of our partners, clients, sponsors and the high-performing collective, thank you.
We'll keep going until Healthcare for All in the United States of America is realized.
To health,
Kimberly J. Soenen
Learn more about “SOME PEOPLE”