In high school, Robert Wigton, M.D., loved drawing. He also played saxophone and clarinet in several jazz bands.
“Then I went into medicine and dropped everything,” Dr. Wigton says with a laugh.
Well, not quite. Even in medical school, the margins of Dr. Wigton’s notebooks were filled with caricatures and doodles. Next month, after a more than 40-year career in medicine, Dr. Wigton will have his first gallery opening, as Lauritzen Gardens displays his paintings and photographs along with two other painters.
“I’m still learning,” Dr. Wigton says. “But it’s so much fun.”
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“Debbie’s Garden,” 2011, oil on canvas by Robert Wigton, M.D. |
Dr. Wigton took his first oil painting class at the Joslyn Art Museum about two years ago. Recently, he’s also taken a class in watercolors.
“I’ve started to have time for this,” he said. “It’s less planned out than it sounds.”
Certainly an exhibit was not part of the plan, not this soon at least. But Dr. Wigton was convinced by his friends, artists Martie Wagner and JK Thorsen, to exhibit with them.
The exhibit will also feature Dr. Wigton’s photography – he has been taking nature and landscape photographs for about a decade.
“I’d always enjoyed photography, but I’d never done it seriously in the sense of putting in the time,” Dr. Wigton said.
Dr. Wigton and his wife, Debbie, schedule trips to national parks – Rocky Mountain National Park is a favorite – and Dr. Wigton takes time to shoot photos of landscapes, animals and flowers.
“I especially enjoy the vistas,” he said.
Dr. Wigton is the son of a physician father and a “very creative” mother who also took up painting later in life, he said.
“She was a very good painter, and I always thought, ‘I could do that someday,'” he said.
“But art takes a lot of time – that’s why I’m just starting,” he said. “A medical career generally leaves you without a lot of free time.”
“My interests have always been miscellaneous,” said Dr. Wigton, who also is known as the unofficial campus historian. “I’m a person who does a lot of different things – some of them better than others.”
Dr. Wigton’s paintings and photographs, along with the paintings of Martie Wagner and JK Thorsen, will be shown from April 2 to May 19 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft St., Omaha. A “Meet the Artists” reception will be held April 7 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Very nice article on a very talented man!
Dr. Wigton is my Graduate Committee Chair, and as someone who is studying history of medicine and the use of the arts in medicine, I can attest that there is no better mentor for me than him. His sensitivity to how our health is affected by the creative world around us is unparalleled. We should also thank him for the beautiful historical photographs throughout campus – none of those would be there without him. I feel privileged to have the honor of working with such a talented and well rounded person.
A great story speaking to the importance of life-long learning and the power of nurturing curiosity, innovation, courage, balance, diversity….as core values.
This is very exciting. We'll be out of town for the reception, but look forward to seeing it in May. Congratulations, Bob.