Two Nashvillians Serving in Leading Roles for Global Alliance for Arts & Health
Misty Chambers, MSN, RN, Assoc. AIA, EDAC, was installed in Washington, D.C. recently as president of the Board of Directors of the Global Alliance for Arts & Health. Chambers is clinical operations/design specialist with Nashville architectural firm Earl Swensson Associates, Inc. (ESa). She serves in a healthcare planning, design and research capacity for ESa and is also a licensed Registered Nurse with nearly three decades of experience. She joined ESa in 2006 after serving as director of facilities planning at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University.
Donna Glassford, also of Nashville, is currently serving as Interim Executive Director for the Global Alliance. Glassford is president of Donna Glassford Arts in Health Consulting, which develops and coordinates artistic programming for healthcare clients across the country. She is a past secretary of the Board of Directors of the Global Alliance.
Other officers installed from around the country include Helen Currier, director of nursing at Texas Children’s Hospital, as vice president; Pauline Daniels, creative arts programming manager of Goodwin House Alexandria, as treasurer; and Johanna Rian, coordinator, Center for Humanities in Medicine at Mayo Clinic, as secretary.
Formerly the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, the Global Alliance for Arts & Health is a 24-year-old non-profit membership organization in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to advancing the arts and health field for the benefit of individuals and communities worldwide. The group’s name was changed last year to better reflect its international reach.
The Global Alliance has a multi-functional mission that includes demonstrating the roles that art can play in enhancing the healing process; advocating for the integration of the arts into the environment and delivery of care; assisting in the professional development and management of arts programming; providing resources and education to arts and health professionals; and encouraging and supporting research into the beneficial effects of the arts in health.