Fall 2024 Exhibits in Evansdale Library 

Healthcare is Human
Evansdale Library, August 2024 - May 2025

Martinsburg, West Virginia may not immediately come to mind when we think about health humanities. Yet during the early days of COVID Dr. Ryan McCarthy, a primary care physician at WVU Medicine’s Berkeley County Medical Center (BMC) in Martinsburg, started a project called Healthcare is Human to document not just his own story, but the stories of all the employees working within the BMC during the pandemic. With the help of Molly Humphries, a Shepherdstown, West Virginia-based photographer, Healthcare is Human crafted a narrative through a mosaic of individual stories through a podcast and photographs. The oral stories were collected by McCarthy and turned into a podcast, with audio production by Kym Mattioli. 

Healthcare is Human not only paints a compelling picture of the pandemic experience in a small-town medical center, but also pushes back on prevailing, negative stereotypes of Appalachia. It chronicles the experience of workers whom we typically associate with healthcare, such as doctors and nurses, but also includes hospital chefs, ambulance drivers, security guards, cafeteria workers, and janitors—in other words, those who often work behind the scenes. This more inclusive approach provides a fuller, richer portrait of the work that happened inside the BMC during COVID, and creates an innovative way to incorporate storytelling in multiple forms to help stave off physician burnout. 

The initial project included Wild, Wonderful, and Brave, a featured video exhibit created for the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia, and supported by the West Virginia Humanities Council. The exhibit was designed and produced by Cory Garmin. 

Ryan McCarthy presented at WVU TEDx in the spring of 2023 about the Healthcare is Human project. 

In order to continue the work of Healthcare is Human, the WVU Humanities Center and partners present an exhibit and video. The exhibit was created from thirty black and white photos from the original project, chosen by Molly Humphries, to display along with new ekphrastic poetry from:

Marc Harshman, the West Virginia Poet Laureate, 

As well as:

• Amy Alvarez
• Torli Bush
• Renée K. Nicholson
• and Randi Ward. 

The exhibit text panels were designed by Sally Brown of WVU’s Art in the Libraries, the video was produced by Cory Garmin, and the video is available to view in the William A. Neal Museum of the Health Sciences.

Voting Democracy & Design: Material Culture Displays

Exhibition by Erik Herron, Sally Brown, and Renée Nicholson
WVU Evansdale Library, Aug. - Dec. 2024

The assembled display at Evansdale provides insights into voting culture and history. This exhibit is particularly significant during this critical election year, as it offers valuable insights into the culture and history of voting. It features a curated collection of ballots, a mechanical voting machine training device, informative "field guides" to ballot design, and various voting ephemera. Highlights include a mechanical voting machine training unit from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a diverse range of ballots from around the world, and campaign materials from various post-communist states, such as Ukrainian campaign flags and other branded items. By engaging with this diverse array of objects, visitors may deepen their understanding of the evolution of voting practices and the importance of informed participation in the democratic process.