The Last Word with Paula Bowers

Photo by Daniel Dubois

Artist and executive secretary Paula Bowers does not see herself as the only creative person in the Vanderbilt Medical Center’s Office of Research.

“As soon as I set foot in the Medical Center two-and-a-half years ago, I loved it,” she says. “These researchers are very creative people. Scientists make artists look tame in comparison.”

An art history degree from Wellesley College – “I majored in art history instead of studio art because that seemed more academically acceptable at the time, although I love the process of making art” – graduate work in art history at New York University, and two years of study at the Fashion Institute of Technology all influence her definition of art.

“I’m an oddity among artists because I have a fine arts background,” she explains. “But my work as a weaver isn’t considered in the vein of fine arts. Art is essentially about beauty, form and color. There’s an imposed dichotomy between fine arts and crafts, and I don’t agree that a difference exists.”

Paula, who has always loved working with her hands, began her artistic career as a painter. After taking an introductory course in woven design, she knew she had found her field of visual expression.

“Weaving is very logical and orderly and mathematical, as well as being tactile,” says Paula. “There are so many rules to learn and to apply that it took me a long time to realize that I had a unique, artistic voice.

“Only recently have I felt my art was creative enough to show. But we all find our voices and our paths eventually. Just look around the Medical Center, and you see creativeness everywhere.”

— Whitney Weeks

Posted 10//01 at 10 a.m.