Larry Kline

The Artist

We are collaborative artists and have been featured in solo exhibitions including Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (San Francisco), California Center for the Arts Museum, La Casa del Tunel Art Center (Tijuana), Southwestern College Art Gallery, UCSD Cross Cultural Center Gallery, Mesa College Art Gallery and Athenaeum Music and Arts Library. Group exhibitions include Indiana State Museum, Torrance Art Museum, Ronald H. Silverman fine Arts Gallery (Cal State Los Angeles) , San Diego Art Institute, California Center for the Arts Museum, Centro Cultural de España (Costa Rica), San Diego City College, SF Camerawork, La Jolla Historical Society, Noysky Projects, Durden and Ray Gallery, Loft at Liz’s and Museum on the Seam (Israel), which involved traveling to Jerusalem to create a one-ton adobe structure on the roof of the museum as part of an exhibition of international environmental artists.

We were featured in an Emmy Award winning episode of ArtPulse TV in 2014 and awarded the Calzona Prize in 2016, winning land near the Colorado River to create earthworks relating to the formation of the Salton Sea. We have also created illustrations for San Diego Symphony performances and Kamishibai illustrations for performances with Write out Loud San Diego, including “The Magic Finger” by permission of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate.

Grants include Far South/ Border North (San Diego), Gunk Foundation (NY), Potrero Nuevo Fund (SF), Center for Cultural Innovation (Los Angeles), UCIRA (SD), Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, San Diego Art Prize. Artists Residencies include San Diego Natural History Museum, Torrance Art Museum, Center for Land Use Interpretation, Building Bridges Art Exchange and are currently the Joyce Cutler-Shaw Artists in Residence at UCSD School of Medicine.

Lectures include Art and Science Forum (Salk Institute), UserX Symposium (Qualcomm), San Diego Art Institute, Visiting artists for Digital Media/Emerging Technologies class at San Francisco State University, Joyce-Cutler Shaw Dialogues in Art and Architecture Series: Contemporary Art and Social Responsibility (La Jolla Athenaeum Music and Arts Library), “Non-Computational Adventures in Science: A Guide for Social Engagement,” Museum Computer Network Conference (in collaboration with Yale Center for British Art), Oceanside Museum of Art and San Diego Museum of Art’s Friday Morning Lecture Series.

Our work has been featured in publications throughout California as well as nationally distributed books and magazines such as The Artist’s Guide (Perseus Books), Design and Ethics: Reflections on Practice (Routledge), Public Art Review, Orion Magazine and Utne Magazine.

Lawrence E. “Larry” Kline

The Project

This project is a collaboration between Larry and Debby Kline. We’ve been presented with a unique opportunity to write a book exploring the relationship between art, medicine and empathy. As the Joyce Cutler-Shaw Artists in Residence at UCSD School of Medicine, we teach a course examining how drawing, observation and creative practice help medical students become more perceptive, reflective and compassionate physicians. Data also supports the integration of arts and humanities into medical education.

The book combines experiences in the classroom with interviews, research and artwork ranging from anatomical drawings to experimental multimedia projects. It will examine how artistic practice strengthens observation, communication, emotional intelligence and resilience while offering methods that educators can use in medical training. It will also include interviews with doctors who pioneered this new way of thinking about medicine. This publication could become a textbook, a blueprint for other medical institutions or a guidebook for doctors as they enter the field. Few artists have an opportunity to teach future physicians, making this a unique perspective on an emerging interdisciplinary field.

This book represents significant growth in our practice by extending our work beyond exhibitions into a publication that can influence education and healthcare. It builds on years of collaboration with scientists, physicians and cultural institutions while expanding our roles from artists to authors, educators and advocates for interdisciplinary learning. The book will also document innovative teaching methods that have evolved through our engagement with medical students and leading physicians.

The project also contributes to the cultural vitality of the San Diego/Tijuana region. Some of our students, many of whom are bilingual, participate in outreach programs to underserved communities on both sides of the border. Lessons learned in our course may be disseminated into these communities. We are also seeking to engage nursing programs at community colleges, historically committed to promoting diversity, equity and accessibility. Exhibitions and lectures promoting the book will feature artwork created by medical students, inviting conversations about observation, healing and empathy. It is our hope to print the book in both English and Spanish.

This project reflects our commitment to art as a catalyst for social engagement and goes beyond our own artistic aspirations. It will help produce doctors who are not only knowledgeable, but perceptive, compassionate and emotionally resilient. In this way, the book will be shared with patients through the doctors who have benefitted from art instruction. Through art, we hope to demonstrate that empathy is not simply an innate quality, but a skill that can be practiced, strengthened and shared for the benefit of the communities served.

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