SYMPOSIA

Art and the Brain May 12-14, 1988 - The Art Institute of Chicago  Syllabus (PDF) The primary goal of this symposium was to stimulate multidisciplinary cooperative research concerning the possible relationship between artistic creativity and neurologic functioning. It brought together professionals preeminent in the fields of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, art history, art therapy, art education, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, developmental psychology, cultural anthropology, speech pathology, learning disabilities, neurosurgery and education. Lectures were designed for the general public, specialists, and artists. Issues explored were the definition of art, psychological models of the brain, the effect of specific brain disorders upon creativity, the relative contributions of the right and left hemispheres to artistic creativity, studies of well known artists with known or suspected neurologic histories and creative development within both the species and the individual. As a complement to the lectures, a related art exhibit took place in The Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room the The Art Institute of Chicago, during the first two days of the conference. Symposium Guest Faculty: Drs. Nancy C. Andreasen, David Bear, Dietrich Blumer, Louis R. Caplan, Antonio R. Damasio, Betty Edwards, Elliot W. Eisner, L.G. Freeman, Howard Gardner, Mary Mathews Gedo, Reinhold Heller, Wendy Heller, Nancy Helm-Estabrooks, Daniel B. Hier, Susan C. Levine, Jerre Levy, Elliott D. Ross, Todd Siler, Ellen Winner; Don Seiden, Sue Taylor, John Zukowsky