By Heather Svokos

Courtney Crothers

Woven through the glass, brick, and steel of UT Southwestern’s patient care, education, and research buildings is an artistic ethos that has made its own mark on the Medical Center’s distinction. Taken as a whole, UT Southwestern is home to an impressive collection of art spread across the campus.

You see it in the towering orange tendrils of the blown-glass Chihuly sculpture in the lobby of the Seay Biomedical Building at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center; in the bright, cheerful abstract works and the spectacular translucent glass mobile that fill the walls and atrium of the William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital; and in the desert-toned geometrics of the David Novros fresco that greets people on their way into the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium.

Such a distinctive and vast collection of artwork requires a skillful steward, and it has that in Art Curator Courtney Crothers.

“I’ve been told I have the coolest job on campus,” Ms. Crothers says. “And I do feel very fortunate – I get to do what I love in an environment where the best minds are making discoveries that lead to advancements in human health. It’s inspiring.”

Ms. Crothers will deliver a talk about UT Southwestern’s collections titled “An Art Lover’s Guide to UT Southwestern,” as the next presentation in the President’s Lecture Series. The April 13 talk will take place at 4 p.m. in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium.

Prior to coming to UT Southwestern, Ms. Crothers served as Director of Fine Art Administration at Heritage Auctions, where she led the inaugural sale of pre-Columbian and Native American Art, held in New York City. At UT Southwestern, Ms. Crothers is responsible for recommending art for new clinical spaces and for managing the expansive collection (more than 5,000 pieces and growing), as well as for developing arts programming to enhance the environment.

“Maintaining an appealing aesthetic for the campus is a part of UT Southwestern culture and an important means for engaging a productive faculty and staff,” says Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern. “We hope that the campus environment inspires our students, patients, and visitors. Over the years, UT Southwestern has been fortunate to amass a significant collection of art through the generosity of its supporters, as well as the growth of its programs and facilities – and that art needs to be preserved and maintained.”

The collection spans the original work in public spaces, as well as the open-edition prints, or reproductions, in patient rooms and clinical spaces.

Clements University Hospital showcases much of UT Southwestern’s most contemporary works.

“Each decision in the design of Clements University Hospital was made to support the creation of a patient-centric, peaceful place to heal,” says Dr. John Warner, President and CEO of University Hospitals. “Because studies have shown that art can have a beneficial effect not only on the patient experience, but also on the healing process itself, we knew we wanted to include a well-curated and interesting art collection in the hospital’s design.”

The art also reflects UT Southwestern’s reputation as an innovative academic medical center. And that doesn’t escape the notice of basic scientists, says Dr. David Russell, Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research and Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics.

“As basic scientists, we find the art here inspirational,” he says. “Much of what we see through the lens of a microscope or in a gene expression profile are patterns, and some of the artwork in our collection represents pattern formation and juxtaposition.”

Ms. Crothers received her B.A. in art history from Southern Methodist University (SMU) and began her career in the arts at Pillsbury & Peters Fine Art gallery in Dallas. From there, she served as Operations Manager at the Meadows Museum on the SMU campus. 

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.

Dr. Russell holds the Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair in Molecular Genetics.

Dr. Warner holds the Jim and Norma Smith Distinguished Chair for Interventional Cardiology, and the Nancy and Jeremy Halbreich, Susan and Theodore Strauss Professorship in Cardiology.