Integrating Radiology and the Arts: Early Feedback from the ACR Art Subcommittee

Purpose: The ACR Art Subcommittee was established in 2021 in response to increasing interest and engagement in the arts among radiology practitioners. Here, we report early findings and feedback from exhibits at recent ACR national meetings.

Methods/Materials: The ACR Art Subcommittee has held art exhibitions as part of the national ACR meeting since 2021. Starting in 2022, we solicited submissions from radiologist-artists throughout the country, which were displayed as part of both in-person and virtual exhibit booths. We sought feedback from conference attendees who viewed selected pieces via a qualitative survey, which included binary choice questions (e.g., "Does exploration of art contribute to well-being?") and free response prompts (e.g., "How does the art make you feel?"). In 2023, a suggestion box was introduced allowing participants to submit ideas for future radiology and art projects.

Results: Subcommittee Exhibits have been well-received, garnering consistently high attendance and interest, and receiving strongly positive feedback. Among 38 participants from the 2022 Annual Meeting, 97% felt the exhibit booth format was effective, and 63% felt that art exploration contributes to well-being. Engaging with new perspectives and patterns of thought were major themes from free response: "Examining art excites an area of my brain that isn’t often engaged by my daily work life." Suggestions for future work emphasized a desire for new, accessible avenues of engagement, and inclusion of other modalities.

Conclusions: Art has significant potential to impact radiologists' day-to-day practices and long-term outlook. There is a strong interest in opportunities for artistic engagement among the ACR community. Future work should build from these early findings towards a unified community of radiologist-artists. The impact of art on subsets of the radiology community, such as trainees, or on patients receiving radiological care is also worthy of further investigation.