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New Study Finds Breast Cancer Survivors Don’t Need to Increase Fruits and Vegetables beyond National Guidelines

Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research 2007 Saward Lecture

Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research Wins $2.76 Million Award to Study Long-Term Oxygen Treatment for Patients with COPD

National Study Shows Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma Receive Only Half of Recommended Care

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Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research Launches Two New Smoking Cessation Studies

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Using Safety Alerts in Electronic Medical Records Reduces Rates of Potentially Dangerous Medication Interactions

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Making longer-term lifestyle changes lowers rates of high blood pressure and risk of heart disease

What's New - Art Show 

Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research launches 40th anniversary celebrations with art show

Public display of works by 40 Northwest artists is first in many years

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research (CHR) is holding a "Last Thursday" art show on Thursday, April 29, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend the celebration at 3800 North Interstate Avenue in Portland and view more than 75 paintings and other works of art created by 42 Northwest artists during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. More than 20 of the artists are still living and have been invited to be honored at the event.

These works, today known as the Saward Collection, were purchased for display in Bess Kaiser Medical Center and local Kaiser Permanente medical offices by Virginia Saward, wife of the Center for Health Research's founder, Ernest Saward, MD. Virginia Saward was an accomplished painter who was very active in the Portland art scene during the 1950s and 1960s. Wanting to support local artists creating abstract and expressionist art, she would first rent paintings and other works of art from the Rental Sales Gallery at the Portland Art Museum. If a work was well received by the public and staff, she would purchase it for permanent display. She continued adding to the collection until 1970, when she and Dr. Saward moved to Rochester, N.Y. Her good friend and fellow artist Byron Gardner, understanding her artistic vision and taste, continued to purchase paintings for the collection for several years. Virginia Saward died in 1982.

In 1991, some 60 works that had been displayed in numerous Kaiser Permanente buildings were moved permanently to the Center for Health Research's new building, which became a permanent home for the Saward Collection. All of these works will be on display April 29th, as well as 15 other pieces from the Collection that have been borrowed just for this event. Included in the Saward Collection are important works by such artists as Louis Bunce, Byron Gardner, William Givler, Sally Haley, Charles Heaney, Frederick Heidel, George Johanson, Laverne Krause, Arthur Runquist, Michele Russo, and Harry Widman.

"We live with this history and beauty every day," says Mary L. Durham, PhD, vice president of research, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and CHR director. "Members of the community who come to the Center to volunteer for our research studies also get to see this beautiful art. However, thousands of people who love art and care about this era of our history never get this opportunity. This anniversary of our 40 years of discovering new ways to improve everyone's health is a perfect moment to open our doors and share these artworks with everyone. We cordially invite the community to join us in celebrating this 'snapshot of an era' in both art and research."

Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research was founded in 1964. It is a not-for-profit research institute whose mission is advancing knowledge to improve health.

Kaiser Permanente is a prepaid, group practice health care organization serving 8.2 million people nationwide in nine states and the District of Columbia, including about 440,000 people in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Driving and parking directions: http://www.kpchr.org/public/contact/mapNW.asp

Photos of the works in the Saward Collection: http://www.kpchr.org/public/SawardArt

For more infomation contact:

Released: April 13, 2004