MUSC student creates art for a cause… using medical waste

Advocacy-based art sheds light on waste, disability

Credit: MUSC/Provided photo. Click image to enlarge.

Today’s feel-good afternoon reading comes courtesy of the MUSC Catalyst News and writer Helen Adams…

At one point, as she was preparing to create an eye-shaped work of art that would use discarded glass medical containers and light, Emily Scircle had to shower with her shoes on. The medical student’s Charleston bathtub was full of vials she was soaking in Dawn and bleach to make sure they were completely clean.

“I didn’t know if any broken glass was on the floor. When I drained the tub, I made two little feet holes between the vials. I took a shower, and then I filled the bathtub right back up.”

It was a little inconvenient but worth it for Scircle, who plans to auction off the resulting piece to raise money for people who can’t afford cataract surgery. “Eye surgeries are one of the most effective surgeries. It has a very low complication rate, a very high success rate.”

Scircle, from Lexington, is a third-year student in the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. To see what she made from some 800 glass vials (right) and how she plans to use the resulting art to create awareness for a particular disability, go read Adams’ full story here.