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At 17, Julia Langley, AHP's faculty director, stood alone in at the Louvre museum in Paris, France admiring Peter Paul Rubens' paintings of Marie de Medici. Awestruck by the beauty of Ruben’s work, Langley looked around for someone to talk with about what she was seeing. Realizing that she was alone in the great hall, Langley felt sad. This small moment was life changing, and set her on a career path leading to her role as director Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Arts and Humanities Program (AHP). Since July, her title includes an assistant professorship with Georgetown University. In this interview, Langley talks about how her new role was first envisioned and how it allows her to use her Arts in Health skills to serve more people throughout the university’s community.
How did you first decide to make a career in the arts?
It started with wanting to share the joy I experience looking at art. When I was 17 years old, I had the opportunity to study French in Paris and to live with a French family. During a visit to the Louvre, I saw Rubens' Marie de Medici cycle--these huge, fantastic paintings that fill a large room. One shows Marie de Medici disembarking from a boat. I don’t remember why, but that painting thrilled me so much that I looked around to see if anyone else saw it. Unfortunately, no one else was there. I wanted so much to discuss the work and ask someone: “Do you see this? Isn’t it amazing? What do you think?” Since then, I’ve tried to always visit museums with friends. The museum is a place of stories and stories are meant to be shared. I get so much joy from being part of the social connections that form when people look at art together.
Could you describe your new role and how it grew out of the work you’ve been doing with the AHP for the past seven years?
The first exhibition I installed for the AHP was a show of 22 photographs by William Wegman. We installed them throughout the Lombardi Atrium and the clinic. The images were so unexpected and funny that they created a lot of discussion. I wanted to keep that conversation going, so I talked with my friend and former colleague, Lorena Bradford, about creating a course at the National Gallery of Art, where she worked and where I was formerly employed. We decided we could offer a museum-based elective to teach second-year medical students how to improve their skills of observation, communication, empathy and perspective taking. Since then, I’ve developed other classes, such as a drawing course that helps medical students create basic sketches to explain diagnoses to their patients. At the same time, two of my colleagues at Georgetown, Dr. Daniel Marchalik, and Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan, invited me to join the advisory committee and faculty of the new Medical Humanities Minor in the Georgetown College, teaching undergraduates.
How does your work as a university professor contribute to your work as AHP’s director and vice versa?
I believe in teaching people how to learn, not telling them what they should know. My primary goal is to teach people how to see. I want them to question what is in front of them, instead of simply accepting someone else's point of view. Everyone sees things differently. Sometimes unexpected ideas come from those near us who notice details we may have missed. Often those ideas come from people with very different backgrounds from our own. My role as director and assistant professor is dependent upon my ability to continually look, listen and apply new knowledge.
Overall, how do the arts and artists transform spaces such as hospitals and university classrooms?
Artists bring imagination, flow, and a spark of joy. Most importantly, they are of service to the patients, providers, caregivers, staff and students. Our aim is to help this generation of patients heal better and offer the next generation of providers ways to care for themselves as well as their patients. When people feel cared for and know that their story matters, it positively impacts their attitudes and beliefs. Don’t believe me? Come to the museum and let’s talk about it!
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