The next art show opening at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine will honor the school’s founding dean, Cynda Ann Johnson, who will retire at the end of the year. Inspired by Johnson, the show features works of art that illustrate the influence of women.

The event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at the medical school, located at 2 Riverside Circle in Roanoke. It will also serve as Johnson’s public retirement party. All are invited to stop by and wish her well.

Johnson arrived at VTCSOM from East Carolina Brody School of Medicine in January 2008 to oversee the creation of a new allopathic medical school, including accreditation, curriculum, admissions, policies, faculty appointments, and staffing. In addition, she also helped design the building to foster the school’s problem-based curriculum as well as spaces dedicated for learning with standardized patients, allowing students early and frequent exposure to patient training.

Fewer than two years after her arrival, the school welcomed its first class on Aug. 2, 2010, and received full accreditation without citations by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education after the charter class graduated in May 2014.

During her tenure, five classes of students have graduated; each class has exceeded the national mean score on Step 1 and Step 2 licensing exams and has earned a 100 percent match rate to residency programs.

Read the announcement of Johnson’s plans to retire here.

The Influence of Women features 58 artists, including 14 students from Hollins University, who used a manual printmaking technique to create prints of women who had impacted their lives. The assignment was part of a printmaking class taught by Jennifer Printz, associate professor of art.

Other artistic mediums in the show range from acrylic, oil, fabric, and watercolor to photography, video, copper, and fiber.

Sponsored by the school’s Creativity in Healthcare Education program, the exhibition is one of three held annually for local artists to showcase their works to the community and to reinforce to medical students the importance of having a community connection.

The show runs until March 1, 2019. If you miss the opening reception, you may arrange a time to view the show by contacting Courtney Powell at cbrakes@vt.edu or 540-526-2588.

Note concerning parking: Riverside Drive is partially closed due to construction. Visitors should enter the campus from Reserve Avenue. Ample parking is available in the deck. More information about construction plus a map to navigate around it is available on the Virginia Tech Carilion website.

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