Whitney Museum partners with NYC hospitals for healthcare worker wellbeing through art

The Whitney Museum of American Art has developed two partnerships with New York hospital systems—NYC Health + Hospitals and NYU Langone—to support healthcare worker wellbeing through art. The Heart of Medicine programme with NYC Health + Hospitals, co-facilitated by art therapist Sharon Itkoff Nacache and artist-educator Camilo Godoy, offers 75-minute sessions combining close observation, breathing exercises, creative writing, and artmaking. Sessions occur at the museum and hospitals, using works from the Health + Hospitals collection. Reported outcomes include deep relaxation, improved communication, and reduced burnout. The Empathy Project with NYU Langone, led by Dr. Jennifer Adams, brings first-year medical students from NYU Grossman School of Medicine to the Whitney in their first week to practice separating observation from interpretation through facilitated gallery conversations. The programme has expanded to research departments, the OBGYN cancer unit, faculty, and residents. Ellen Tepfer, the Whitney's Manager of Teaching Strategies, cites Jacob Lawrence's War Series as an example of artwork that rewards slow looking and models evidence-based interpretation. Cris Scorza, the Helena Rubinstein Chair of Education, notes that the programmes have enriched the museum's wider visitor engagement. The work was presented at the Museum & Wellbeing Summit 2026.