How to Draw a Human Heart

An introspective artist teaches med students and faculty to put down their scalpels and discover beauty in boxes of bones and body parts.

After being diagnosed with scoliosis at nine and undergoing spinal fusion surgery at thirteen, Laura Ferguson was bedridden for a year and given art classes to help pass the time. The deformity of her spine and the feeling of being "locked" within her body led young Ferguson to explore her inner space. For years she has found artistic inspiration by drawing from x-rays and CT scans. Today, as Teaching Artist at NYU School of Medicine's anatomy lab, Ferguson leads the "Art and Anatomy" class for medical students, faculty and staff to appreciate the beauty within, enabling them to look at bones, cadavers, and body parts in a new way. The class is administered by the school's Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine.