Art exhibition features original dental school community pieces

Faculty and staff celebrated the new Beyond the Drill art installation at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 22, 2024. The Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs hosted the celebration with remarks from leadership and the inaugural featured artist.

Beyond the Drill is a wall of artistic expression on the fifth floor that serves as a visual focal point for transforming a blank wall into a captivating display. Its purpose is to provide beauty, evoke emotions, tell visual stories, and inspire thought by showcasing a collection of artworks curated from the creative and talented members of the School of Dentistry community.

After her photography submission for an art exhibit at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Amy Ridall, DDS, MS, PhD, assistant professor and director of implant dentistry, considered the possibility of an art exhibit inside the School of Dentistry featuring in-house artists.

“I thought to myself, the artistic people on this campus are actually here in the School of Dentistry,” Ridall said. “So, I started this little project with Dr. [Lisa] Cain and we collaborated with Dr. [John] Valenza and Dr. [Arthur] Jeske to get an idea of where we could find a wall that we could do it.

“We decided that we really liked [the fifth-floor] wall, because we have a lot of public traffic here, and we want everyone to see that the people in the School of Dentistry and those who work in dentistry are artists at heart.”

Beyond the Drill will be a rotating display of art from those within the dental school featuring new pieces every few months. In the exhibition’s debut, the wall features works of art from Asneiry A. Aponte, BS, DDS, MS, associate professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics.

Aponte thanked his colleagues for the encouragement to display his art and the help arranging the pieces.

“I wish to express my deepest acknowledgements to Dr. Cain and Dr. Ridell to encourage me to do the exhibit,” he said. “Also, to Dr. [Amity] Gardner and Dr. [Maria] Gonzalez to help me with their ideas to set all of the exhibit, I really appreciate that.”

Along with his role as a maxillofacial prosthodontist, Aponte is also an accomplished painter, photographer, and sculptor. As he studied the works of various artists and experimented with different mediums, he realized that abstract art was the perfect fit for him as he could use lots of color to provide greater expressions and reflections of his moods and inspirations. He has been producing artwork for more than 30 years.

Beyond the Drill committee members include Ridall; Lisa Cain, PhD; Amity Gardner, DDS; Maria Gonzalez, DDS, MS; and Ronald Johnson, DDS.

Committee members encourage School of Dentistry students, faculty, and staff to display their original artwork in the rotating exhibition. If you wish to have your work featured, reach out to a committee member for consideration.