The Friends of the Lehigh Libraries invite you to join us on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the CIRCLE, Fairchild-Martindale Library (4th fl. south) for Visual Storytelling as a Way of Life, a conversation with Ann E. Fink, artist, neuroscientist, therapist, educator, and ethicist. A reception will follow at 5:00 p.m.
The free public talk coincides with a solo exhibition of Fink’s artworks throughout study spaces in the Fairchild-Martindale Library, 6th fl. south. The exhibit runs through spring semester 2027.
In their talk, Fink will reflect on their lifelong process as an artist and the intersections of art, science, and narrative approaches to health that shape Study to Story: Graphic Narrative from Life. They will discuss how life drawing, comics, and other forms of visual storytelling have become ways of studying people and places, exploring experiences of health and illness, and connecting their work as an artist, scientist, clinician, and educator.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A session led by University Librarian Boaz Nadav Manes. Light refreshments will be served.
Fink will also lead a comics workshop on Friday, Sept. 18, in Fairchild-Martindale Library.
About the exhibit
Study to Story: Graphic Narrative from Life brings together more than 50 works representing over 15 years of studying and interpreting people, places, and the natural world. Moving between realism and abstraction, Fink uses drawing, painting, and graphic narrative as ways of looking closely, shifting perspective, and understanding human experience. Learn more.
About the artist
Dr. Ann E. Fink (she/they) is a neuroscientist, psychotherapist, educator, ethicist, and artist. Ann completed a PhD in Neuroscience at UCLA and a MSW at Rutgers University, and has engaged in scientific research, teaching, art, and clinical practice across multiple institutions and settings worldwide. As a clinician, Ann specializes in LGBTQ+-affirming care, stress and trauma, grief, chronic illness, and relationships. Ann enjoys working within the Graphic Medicine community and has published in written and comic form on topics ranging from biological mechanisms of learning, memory, and affect to the ethics of neuroscience in relation to identity, mental health, and social justice.
Comics and Creations Workshop | Fri., Sept. 18
The CIRCLE, Fairchild-Martindale Library, 2-3PM
Explore visual storytelling through comics-making in this hands-on workshop with the artist. Participants will experiment with ways of seeing and sketching, playing with color, lines and shapes, and using these visuals to tell stories about bodies in health and illness.
Please complete this brief Google form if you are interested in joining us!
Sponsored by The Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries.
Lehigh Libraries