What the doctor ordered

A group of Tulsa artists give back

Paul Bevilacqua, Marty Beal, and Robert Block have delivered babies, treated sick children, and administered anesthesia for life-saving procedures. They have also painted canvas, carved sculptures out of remnants of trees, and blown 2,000-degree glass. Later this month, each will donate original artwork for the event Art Rx, a fundraiser that aims to cover the cost of medical procedures for low-income and uninsured residents of Tulsa County.  

With his black Goldendoodle pup at our side, I followed Dr. Paul Bevilacqua, a doctor of anesthesiology, to a garden shed in the backyard of his midtown home. Beyond the unassuming door, glass vases rested on a countertop, with kilns on one side of the workspace and a shelf of supplies on the opposite.

Bevilacqua, who recently retired, was dressed in a suit—not exactly glassblowing attire. He started blowing glass with his son, Sam, about eight years ago, at Tulsa Glassblowing Studio. Multiple workshops across the globe later, all along with his son, Bevilacqua became an avid glass-smith. 

When he was wearing the white coat, Bevilacqua said, “it was tough because all of this equipment needs constant care.” He would come home from practicing anesthesiology to tend the kilns; glassblowing wasn’t even his only artistic endeavor. “I played a little music in an all-doctor band… called “Bad Outcome.” 

“I’ve been involved from the beginning,” Bevilacqua said about Art Rx. “It’s a great project, charity, and service to Tulsa. My part is easy. It’s the guys treating the people who do the hard part.”

Dr. Block is a woodcarver. He started about 35 years ago, at about the same time he launched his medical career as a pediatrician at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Community Medicine.  He recently traded in the stethoscope for more time with the mallet and chisel. 

Block said he finds art relaxing. “I actually recommended it to all of the medical students in residence I was teaching, that they find an outlet, even if you just do it every once and awhile. If you have that quiet time it is really therapeutic and a lot cheaper than going to a psychiatrist.” 

Block’s carving for Art Rx is a figure of a young girl, around 16 inches tall and produced from a single mass of walnut. “A couple of times now I have been able to donate a piece and hope someone will pay way too much money for it,” Block said. 

Obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Marty Beal is donating a wood stain and lacquer painting for Art Rx. A painter for 15 years, he originally had his course set in literature at the University of Oklahoma. When he read the E.E. Cummings poem “Forward to an Exhibit:II,” which depicts an imaginary interview between Cummings and himself, “a word never really says what it is. A kid can point to a tree and recognize it. I thought, ‘Boy, if you’re always going to fall short as a poet, only pointing to the direction of the thing you are talking about, why not become a painter?” So he did.

Beal said art and medicine aren’t as different as they seem. “We care about the endpoint. No one cares how you got there. It’s really, in part, what art does for you. It forces you to see the endpoint,” he said. Medicine is actually an art, not a science, he added. “There are some really impressive artists who are physicians in this city.” 

About Art Rx: Art Rx raises funds for non-emergency specialty care for uninsured, low-income residents of Tulsa County through the Tulsa County Medical Society Foundation and The Alliance to the Tulsa County Medical Society. In addition to the silent art auction, hors d’ oeuvres, drinks, and prizes will also be available.

When: Thurs, July 24, 6-8 p.m.

Location: ONEOK Field, Tulsa Drillers Conference Center

Cost: $50; advance reservations required at tcmsok.org

Attire: summer casual 

More art happenings

ART WITH PURPOSE: THE WORK OF E.W. DEMING // From the helms of Gilcrease’s private collection, 30 rarely seen paintings by artist E.W. Deming portray the daily lives of American Indians // 7/27-10/12; Gilcrease Museum; 1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road; 918-596-2700

WAYNE KOLSTAD// Attend the artist reception of the award-winning woodcarver and check out one of Tulsa’s up-and-coming galleries/studios. Art show and reception will be held Friday. Kolstad carving demonstrations will be Saturday during the gallery open house, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. // 7/25 and 7/26; Willowbrush Gallery; 8545 E. 41st St; 918-301-2718

BROOKLYN NETS// Artist Doug Johnson, raised in Tulsa, showcases his sculpture-esque fiber works he calls a “distillation of the ideas” from his stint in New York // through 7/9; Exhibit by Abersons; 3524 B. S. Peoria Ave.; 918-740-1054

NATIVE AMERICAN FLORAL BEADING WORKSHOP//Molly Murphy Adams teaches a beading class 9 a.m.-3 p.m., $50. Registration accepted at 918-694-5001 // 7/26; Waterworks Art Center; 1710 Charles Page Blvd; 918-596-2440