The Summa Health Healing Arts Leadership Council advances the healing power of the arts at Summa Health and engage Akron’s vibrant arts community in partnerships and philanthropic support to enhance the experience and well-being of patients, families, staff and visitors. Council leaders administer the Summa Health Healing Arts program:
Art Curator
Meg Harris Stanton (BA Smith College; MA John’s Hopkins University) began her study of art history at Old Trail School and continued through college and her years of living abroad in London from 1982-88. Soon after her return to Akron, she became director of the Evelyne Shaffer Gallery. She bought the gallery in 1994, and since has served as its managing director, changing the name to Harris Stanton Gallery in 1998. With more than 31 years of experience at the gallery, she has curated and installed numerous exhibitions, both on and offsite. She has also been responsible for the assembly and installation of many corporate collections, both locally and out of state, including BF Goodrich’s corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has lectured on collecting art, and has juried several museum shows. Meg has worked with Summa Health on various art projects since 2006 and was appointed curator in 2016. She and her curatorial committee established a healing arts collection to display in the new patient tower that opened in May 2019. The tower art project has been nominated for an award by Americans for the Arts. Her commitment to and passion for the arts is also evident through her active participation in the non-profit sector, including serving as a member of the Akron Art Museum Board of Trustees and her appointment to their Accessions Committee; the Board and Advisory Board of the Cleveland Institute of Art; and the Boards of Cleveland Arts Prize and Ohio Ballet. She is also a member of the Print Club of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Christine Havice (BA Ohio University, MA and Ph.D Penn State University) retired in 2016 after serving as professor of art history and director of the School of Art at Kent State University since 2003. Previously, at the University of Kentucky, she served as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts, as Director of the University Honors Program from 1990-1998, and as Chair of the UK Women’s Studies program. She led the national Women’s Caucus for Art as its President from 1988 to 1990. In addition to articles, book chapters, and reviews published in the US and Europe, she has curated and juried exhibitions; served as arts and humanities consultant on multiple projects and as a member of a number of the board of a number of museums and charitable foundations; and has lectured and presented papers widely. She is a Trumbull County native.
For more information about the Healing Arts program at Summa Health, contact Shelley Green, system director of development, 330.375.6891 or greensh@summahealth.org.