Current Exhibition
Cardially Yours – An exhibition by Charles Romero Venzon featuring St. Boniface Hospital’s Cardiac Sciences
Opening reception: 6 – 9 p.m., Thursday 23 January 2025
24 January – 30 March 2025
Artist talk 6.30 pm, 13 March 2025
Presentation by Emily Phillips
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cardiac Sciences Manitoba
Making Meaning of Early Mobility After Heart Surgery Though Body Mapping: An Artistic Understanding of the Experience
15 May, 12 pm at GBG
Nearly 1000 patients have heart surgery at St Boniface Hospital each year. Each patient gets up and moves early after heart surgery. We understand little about this common but important step in recovery.
10 individuals shared their experiences with moving after heart surgery by creating body maps. Body maps are a life-size tracing of a body filled in based on reflections of an experience, in this case: What is it like to move after heart surgery? The findings of this study describe the meaning behind moving that patients hold related to their recovery.
In this 30-minute presentation, Emily Phillips, who is leading this research project, and individuals who created the body maps will present the findings and discuss the experiences shared. They will discuss why early mobility after heart surgery has is an important part of creating positive health outcomes for patients.
Emily Phillips, RN, MN, PhD candidate, CCN(c)
I was born and raised in southern Ontario and attended the University of Western Ontario for my undergraduate education. I have a Bachelor of Medical Sciences degree along with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, both from the University of Western Ontario. I moved to Winnipeg in 2013 to participate in the Winnipeg Critical Care Nursing Education Program (WCCNEP) and never left. After completing the WCCNEP, I worked in the post-operative cardiac surgery ICU. I began working as a clinical education facilitator with nursing students on the cardiology unit, which opened the door to the educator role on that unit from 2015 to 2021 when I took the role of Clinical Nurse Specialist. I completed my Master of Nursing degree through the University of Manitoba in 2020 and began my doctoral studies in Applied Health Sciences in 2021 with Todd Duhamel and Rakesh Arora.
I enjoy collaborating with other healthcare professionals to drive change using research evidence in innovative ways to ensure we are providing the best experience and care to patients and care partners.
Exhibition info
Click here for the French version. Click here for Tagalog version.
Located almost in the centre of our chests is a tough nugget of muscle – the heart. There is no other part of the body that has had as many songs sung and tales told about it. This exhibition is part of that tradition; its story is rooted in a place that strives to provide the best possible care for unwell hearts – the Cardiac Sciences of St. Boniface Hospital. Here, lens-based artist, Charles Romero Venzon, documented staff and physicians over several months performing many tasks in service to people’s hearts – from bed-making to surgery prep. Through this work he also explores his personal connection to the department – in 1995 his father’s life was saved by Cardiac Sciences – and this expanded the project beyond documentation into the life of his own family.
This project was commissioned by GBG Curator hannah_g and generously funded by the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation.
In Venzon’s words:
Cardially Yours reflects a deeply personal and transformative chapter in my family’s life. On December 15, 1995, my father, Claro, underwent a 14.5-hour open-heart surgery to repair an ascending aortic dissection. The procedure involved replacing his aortic valve, root, and ascending aorta, as well as performing a single-vessel bypass to his right coronary artery. Thanks to the expertise of Dr. E. A. Pascoe and the dedication of his team of nurses and technicians at St. Boniface Hospital, the surgery was a success. At 56 years old, my father emerged from this ordeal, and we were blessed with 21 more cherished years with him.
Since his passing on June 6, 2019, countless moments have unfolded in my life that I wish I could have shared with him. I long for him to have witnessed how much his grandchildren – Sofia Horas Lopes-Venzon, Isla Vida Hazel Waller, and Beckett Carlos Waller – have grown. Most of all, I wish he could have met and loved the grandchild he never had the chance to know: Inèz Claro Danielle Venzon.
The illustrative work in this exhibition was inspired from the drawing exercises Inèz and I often do together. On the same sheet of paper, we each create our own versions of objects from her toy collection. I often imagine my dad and Inèz doing this activity together, their laughter filling the room as they compare their creations. To honor Claro’s connection with all his grandchildren to him, I invited them to collaborate on drawings of his objects and articles of clothing that are cherished by me and other family members. These pieces weave together love, legacy, and the enduring bonds that link generations.
Cardially Yours is both a tribute and an expression of gratitude. It honors Dr. Pascoe, his team, and the ongoing work of St. Boniface Hospital and Cardiac Sciences, whose commitment continues to save lives every day.
This project aims to encourage people to prioritize heart health; to encourage them to visit their doctor and undergo any necessary diagnostic tests like EKGs, stress tests, or echocardiograms. These measures can be life-saving, preventing more severe measures involving invasive surgeries such as fitting pacemakers, stents, or valve replacements.
By inviting you into the spaces where life-saving procedures take place, sharing my personal experience with medical requisitions, and highlighting the invaluable contributions of nurses, doctors, clerks, management, and service workers. I hope to show the medical world here is welcoming, compassionate, and connects so many of us.
Cardially yours, Illustration Workshop with Charles Romero Venzon
11.30 – 1 Thursday 8 May 2025 | Free to all
This illustration workshop, part of Cardially yours, is for anyone who wants to take a moment to remember someone dear to them—through memory and intention—by illustrating an object that belonged to their loved one.
The illustrative work in Cardially yours, was inspired by drawing exercises Venzon often does with his daughter, Inèz. On the same sheet of paper, they each create their own versions of objects from her toy collection. He often imagines his dad, Claro, and Inèz doing this activity together—their laughter filling the room as they compare their creations.
To honor his dad’s connection with all his grandchildren, Venzon invited them to collaborate with him on drawings of his belongings—objects and articles of clothing that are deeply cherished by his family. These pieces weave together love, legacy, and the enduring bonds that link generations.
Venzon invites you to join him for this workshop on May 8, 2025, from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM at Galerie Buhler Gallery. We’ll provide the art supplies—you bring an object and the memories it holds. With your consent, the final artworks will be scanned and digitally quilted and included into the Cardially yours, exhibit.
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