Feel the Heal & Members Challenge: Legacies

At eight years old, Long Island native Karin Hammler decided she wanted to be just like her artsy older sister, Birgit. And so, she snuck into Birgit’s room, stole her paint set, and began working on her “very first Monet.” She’s been painting ever since, often alongside her sibling. But all that changed in 2013 when Birgit received a grim diagnosis: cancer. In the coming years, when Birgit became too ill to paint, she watched her little sister fill canvases instead. It was during this time that Hammler founded Feel the Heal Art, a Florida-based nonprofit initiative charged with the mission of harnessing “creativity as a force for healing, inspiration, and positive change.” As Hammler explains, “We raise awareness about the therapeutic potential of art. It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about soul nourishment.” Come fall, Hammler will bring some of this soul nourishment to The Bascom during a group show titled Feel the Heal. According to a press statement, artists will display “interpretations of human resiliency,” including grief — an emotion Hammler has come to know since her sister’s passing in 2018. The show will run alongside Members Challenge: Legacies, a display in which member artists “pay homage to the legacies of visual traditions that have influenced them.”