Art and the Outdoors. How two doctors found their place in Oregon through art and wilderness.

After stocking the boat with supplies and raising the mast, Dr. Christine Kollmorgen and her husband Dr. Charles Zachem, are ready to point their bow toward the lake and set sail.

Gliding across Fern Ridge Reservoir, they look out and see the sights and sounds of the lake. Birds swooping down to grab a fish out of the water, the wind whistling through the trees, and fog rolling off the reservoir during early morning’s light.

To be outdoors for them is not a rare occurrence, but rather a lifestyle that drew them together.

“We love the accessibility of the outdoors in the area,” Kollmorgen says. “One thing we love about living here is the great quality of life.”

This connection to the outdoors is what drew both of them to settle in Oregon. Growing up in Boston, Kollmorgen spent her childhood east of the Mississippi River, never knowing just how big mountains can be.

“One of my friends was living out on the west coast and said let’s go climb Mt. Rainier,” Kollmorgen says. “Standing on the mountain looking out, I decided I wanted to come work here.”

So in 1998 she took a surgical position with Northwest Surgical Specialists, and decided to make the Willamette Valley her home. Moving here with her children, she says she always wanted them to be able to experience the outdoors.

Moving to Eugene with her first husband, Kollmorgen said they later separated. Having known Dr. Zachem for almost 20 years; as their paths crossed during their medical career, they got married eight years ago.

As husband and wife, they enjoy the outdoors as an escape from the constant grind of working long hours as physicians. Zachem says he finds every excuse to cast a few flies with his rod in the mornings before darting into work for a full day working with patients.

“I’ve always wanted a life partner who understands how hectic the life of a doctor can be and who shares similar interests,” Kollmorgen says. “That’s a quality that I think is important in a life partner.”

With four children between the two of them, they’ve stayed in the Willamette Valley because of their desire to raise their children in an area with a high quality of education, paralleled with outdoor activities, and opportunities.

Outside of their work as doctors, Kollmorgen and Zachem both serve as philanthropists in the community. Kollmorgen also serves on the Oregon Cancer Foundation Board, and volunteers at Positive Community Kitchen; where she and her family serve meals to those suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

“I find that helping people in the community is always a very eye-opening experience for me, “ Kollmorgen says. “I’m constantly meeting new people and have a chance to be a person who can help out others in the community.”

Using Art for Medical Therapy

This is where he got his first exposure to the Art Heals Program, an arts class for patients dealing with various forms of cancer. They bring participants into a room where they draw self-portraits. Throughout the process, they are suppose to answer three questions of themselves; Who was I before my illness? Who am I now? Who will I be in the future?

Seeing effective results in those who participated in the program, Kollmorgen and Zachem decided they wanted to create a pilot program for medical students and physicians.

“We do our program with the art in our building,” Kollmorgen says.

The first year of the program, the Visual Thinking Strategies Program had a cohort of six students from Oregon Health and Sciences University who were brought to the building to observe and analyze the art throughout.

“Each floor has a theme based on the five elements of Eastern medicine – fire, metal, water, earth, and air,” Zachem says.

The ultimate goal and takeaway is that they learn to look at things in life with a different viewpoint. That not all things in life are exactly as they appear on the surface.