Art Gallery Advocacy: Raising Awareness About the Full Lives of Children with Medical Complexity

Introduction: Children with medical complexity (CMC) are often underrepresented in society. Objective: To describe the creation and evaluation of a rotating art gallery exhibit featuring CMC. Methods: In partnership with their existing community advisory board, a team of photo-narrative researchers who use participant-generated photographs and personal narratives to explore lived experiences, developed a gallery exhibit featuring CMC with three framed photos, alongside a narrative about each child. The gallery was displayed online and in-person. Visitor demographics and experiences were collected via paper/electronic surveys. Results: N = 30 visitors completed surveys. Most attended to support a child/family featured ( n = 15, 50%). Despite 40% ( n = 12) of visitors reporting their knowledge about CMC was “extremely high” before the exhibit, 40% ( n = 12) felt that they “gained some new knowledge” and an additional 33% ( n = 10) felt they “learned a great deal.” Conclusion: Art gallery exhibits may be a helpful way to highlight the full lives of CMC.