Oakwood Comic Book Program - Oakwood Healthcare System

The extraordinary pictures displayed in the first Graphic Stories exhibition emerged
from the “Comic Jams” and are the work of nine original artists who have the fertile
ground of Green Brain Comics in common.
The Graphic Stories project, which comprises a 6 week exhibition of artwork at Oakwood
Hospital & Medical Center and the writing in the book you hold in your hands, is the result
of separate, long-running programs that discovered each other and found this as a way to
magnify each other’s work.
Each is unique in our community:
• Oakwood’s Arts for the Spirit led by Sandra Baughman and Allie Butler sprang from
the belief that art literally can help people heal themselves and others by inspiring
and strengthening the life force inside them. It encourages and supports works of
creative art in all media by employees, physicians, volunteers and neighbors in
Oakwood’s southeast Michigan service area.
AFTS mounts a new show of both distinguished and emerging visual artists every
two months, throughout the public galleries of all four Oakwood hospitals. With the
National Arts Program Foundation, it sponsors an annual juried exhibition of artwork
by Oakwood people and their families. It partners with local arts organizations to
provide ongoing art instruction programs at nominal cost to participants.
One such program is Oakwood’s monthly Creative Writing workshops, cosponsored
for more than four years with Springfed Arts/Metro Detroit Writers. These
popular classes are led by a teaching staff of published authors and facilitators,
including Michael Madigan, Creative Writing Workshop moderator, and Joy Gaines-
Friedler, who coached the writers featured in these pages through the summer of
2009. The individuality and craftsmanship of these fifteen works is a tribute to Joy’s
guidance, discernment and stamina.
• Green Brain Comics in Dearborn has been named metro Detroit’s “Best Comic
Book Store” four years in a row. It has been family owned and operated by Katie and
Dan Merritt since 1999. It specializes in new comic books and graphic novels and
takes pride in its definitive comic book archive and its diverse selection of material
from smaller publishers.
The happy alignment of Arts for the Spirit and Green Brain Comics in May 2009 took
shape in the imagination of Roy Sexton, Oakwood corporate director of Strategic
Communications and a longtime Green Brain maven. He challenged the Merritts and
Sandra Baughman to bring about a show of highly imaginative original art and writing in
the spirit of the comic/fantasy genre, in a format never before presented at Oakwood.
The product of their first attempt may be found on the gallery walls of Oakwood Hospital &
Medical Center and in the pages of this book. We hope you enjoy it.
Roy Sexton
Corporate Director, Strategic Community & Planning
Sandra Baughman
Arts Coordinator, Oakwood Arts for the Spirit Program
Michael Madigan
Community Relations Specialist, Oakwood Community & Public Relations Group
Allie Butler
Arts Planner, Oakwood Arts for the Spirit Program
Dan and Katie Merritt
Owners, Green Brain Comics
Joy Gaines-Friedler
Author and Oakwood Creative Writing Instructor
M.L. Liebler
Professor of English, Wayne State University, Oakwood Creative Writing Director
Through the Merritts’ stewardship Green Brain Comics has become both a
destination and a kind of academy of comic culture for fans and creators alike.
“Free Comic Book Day” celebrations and signing appearances by artists and writers
are featured there throughout the year. Serious comic book and fantasy creators,
novice and veteran, gather at Green Brain’s monthly “Comic Jams”, to show and
collaborate on works in progress and learn from each other about art and publishing.
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