UTHSA Artists

Title: From Battlegrounds to Playgrounds
Salma Yazji, Class of 2023, Long School of Medicine

Artist Note: Za’atari Refugee Camp, 2014. This photo was taken on a hot summer day, in a desert that borders Jordan and Syria. Pictured are Syrian refugee children playing on a donated slide set, surrounded by a barbed wire fence and white tents they now call home. These children and their families have fallen victim to the tragedy of war that has torn apart our shared homeland – Syria. I still remember their laughter filling the dry air, and the smiles glistening on their sandy faces. As a Syrian-American who will never be able to comprehend the tragedy they lived and breathed through, in this moment I found hope in their strength.

Title: Intricate Mind
Christine Beshay, Class of 2022, Long School of Medicine

Artist Note: This drawing is an ode to many patients I have worked with through my child psychiatry rotations, where I witnessed the impact of mental health on children and youth. Oftentimes psychiatric diagnoses cause young people to feel lonely and isolated from their peers. To me, each individual’s brain looks like a version of the above drawing: full of color and life, more than their mental or physical state could ever reveal. No matter the state of the mind – it’s intricate, it’s blooming.

Title: No Voice No Choice
Vy Vu, Class of 2023, Long School of Medicine

Artist Note: The original idea behind the piece was to show the contrast between the inner world of a youth and the outside image they must mold themselves into to fit societal expectations. The hands reaching for the youth could be interpreted in different ways. They symbolize outside influences, whether under the premise of good or bad intentions, one by one they weigh the child down. In contrast, the brightly colored side was done so to look almost comical. It reflects outside appearances, it can represent the reflection of the youth or figures that play a heavy hand in their lives, both are just playing their “roles”. The monitor screen showing an online meeting is tribute to how the ongoing pandemic has only served as an additional stressor. The water was purposely colored to look like the galaxy. Youths start out with dreams and strong motivation, as well as vast potential. They deserve more credit in regards to knowing what they want and need to reach their goals, and it would be worthwhile to see what they can do if they had the voice and choice to map out their own journeys.

Title: The Struggle
Divya Chandramohan, MD, Fellow, Division of Infectious Diseases Department of Medicine

Artist’s Note: Displayed youth are curbed from their right to an education by their circumstances, thereby preventing them from forging a meaningful life and a source of sustainable income in their future. This is one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the nature of this problem. I chose to depict this by portraying an actual media photograph of Syrian youth attempting to salvage and recycle plastic for a living. The artwork is 7.5” x 6” in size and portrayed by using ballpoint pens only, on bristol smooth paper.

Title: Girls
Averi White, MD, Internal Medicine Resident, Department of Medicine

Artist Note: This photograph was taken after the team conducted a mobile clinic at the school of two young girls during a global health trip. Both girls are sponsored by the non-profit we partner with in Masaka, Uganda. One is a “true orphan” (meaning she does not have parents at all) and the other still has her mom but boards at school because of very limited resources at home (more like a foster care situation). Both girls are resilient and incredible; they are an honor to know and it has been a joy to watch them learn and grow over the last few years.

Title: Passages
Amy Nguyen, Class of 2023, Long School of Medicine

Artist Note:  This piece is meant to represent the internal obstacles that displaced youth face. It is a winding path that is closed off and often unimaginable to the general public. We often only see and interact with the end result of displacement, rather than the myriad of factors that pushed these youth onto this road.

Title: Each Raindrop Falls from the Same Source
Emily Sherry, Class of 2022, Long School of Medicine

Artist Note: Each of these raindrops has its own color, size, and contour, yet they are all made of water, they all fall from the same source, and together they create something beautiful, possibly even unexpected, from what they might have seemed at first glance. In a similar way, I believe that every human life has dignity, individuality, and spirit, is all part of one body, all comes from the same source. We do not really know how things are going to fall or what life will look like, but when we are above the water, I hope we all can see what is real, what is beautiful, what is both unique and inherently the same.

Title: Dove of Peace
Emma Lehman, Age 12, Niece of UTHSA Staff

Artist Note: My inspiration for my Dove of Peace project was learning about Picasso and his desire for peace in this world. I love colorful pictures so I decided to make each section a different design  and color. The world needs more joy and colors to make people happy.

Title: Interwoven Barriers
Prerna Das, Class of 2025, Long School of Medicine

Artist Note: In this picture, only the chain-link fence in the foreground is in focus while the abundant and beautiful space beyond it in the distance is unclear. This largely serves as a metaphor for the opportunities, resources, and freedoms which often slip out of focus for much of the displaced youth population when barriers arise. The fence is meant to represent the multi-faceted web of obstacles that displaced people find themselves up against: barriers to adequate healthcare, barriers to adequate education, barriers to adequate necessities to survive. These barriers give rise to further disadvantage as young people are strained under the unreasonable burden of trying to secure basic needs for themselves and those around them. Young people are already at higher risk for forced recruitment into gangs, abuse, and exploitation but the displaced find themselves at an even greater risk for incarceration and homelessness amidst their many additional stressors. Therefore, the fence in this photograph also alludes to the youth exclusion which takes place as children are barred from society by being put into a prison or put out of a home. Lastly, it is important to realize that the displaced person is not depicted in the photograph. Their presence is implied by the point of view; however, they are invisible nonetheless. This is meant to highlight that the needs of displaced youth populations are often dismissed to the margins of the public eye and political agendas. Although disadvantaged children may grow into adulthood, the cycles of poverty and incarceration are often difficult to escape. As adults, the narratives of their struggles and traumas become further erased as society often does not care to examine the harsh conditions of their childhood that might have manifested into the hardships seen in adulthood.