Julianne Verdone
The Recovery Movement

AwardHonorable Mention

SchoolRocky River High School

CityRocky River, Ohio

TeacherPatricia Tobin

InternEmily Lanzola

MediumAcrylic on Canvas

Artist's Statement

My painting was inspired by Emily Lanzola's research on total knee replacement. More specifically, she compared two types of protocol for recovery from the surgery: the Accelerated Recovery Technique, or ART, and a Standard of Care protocol. Through her research, she concluded that ART helps reduce the length of stay in recovery from that of a Standard of Care. To connect the concepts of knee replacement and time, I presented a patient on my canvas wearing a knee brace and sitting in a wheel chair. The wheel of the chair is representative of a clock to show the rapidly passing time in recovery. Also upon the clock is the silhouette of a dancer, which symbolizes the idea that the patient is coming closer to the freedom of movement after recovery. The dancer is created entirely out of words that are meant to inspire the patient.