An exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, More Than Conquerors: A Monument for Community Health Workers of Baltimore, Maryland 2021–2022 is a collaborative award-winning photo series inspired by Braddock, PA artist LaToya Ruby Frazier and the work of Johns Hopkins physician-researcher Lisa Cooper, her colleagues, and the community health workers who supported and served Baltimore neighborhoods during the pandemic.
One of the nation's leading researchers on health disparities and the creator of interventions that empower patients from socially marginalized groups to take more active roles in their care, Cooper saw in Frazier's photography (including a series centered on Frazier's own family) the health implications of economic distress and social inequities. Frazier captured in the series, for example, her community's failed plight to save their local hospital from closure in 2011.
"Her art gives voice to people from marginalized groups in society who experience poor health as a result of that marginalization," says Cooper. Community Health Workers —trained citizens who bridge the gap between health care systems and local communities—had become essential in gaining trust at the neighbor-to-neighbor level, especially when it came to increasing the uptake of life-saving vaccines when they became available in 2021.
On display at the Carnegie Museum through April 2.