The life of Kevin Merigian, M.D., is an amalgamation of science and art. A modern-day Renaissance man skilled in both the creative and the analytical, he has a broad base of knowledge in multiple disciplines. As an artist, he works in a broad variety of media. As a doctor, he merges training in emergency medicine, toxicology and pharmacology for the benefit of his patients.

His practice, The Stone Institute, seeks to streamline the care path of the patient.

“The Institute was originally established for wellness promotion,” Merigian said. “however, the patients who came were in a disjointed model where a number of specialists see them independently of each other. They were saying, ‘Can you integrate this? We’re having side effects. Can you help us?’”

Dr. Merigian also integrates medicine into his art – and art into his medicine. He has been known to melt down X-rays into shapes and forms and pour plaster into them to make cloudlike shapes. The ink washes in his conference room were actually done with a syringe, created by ink pulsing through a needle onto paper. Dr. Merigian’s patients are given paper and a bowl of crayons and markers as they wait in an exam room. Their creations not only occupy them as he prepares for their appointment, but they also give him a peek into their psyche as he takes their history.

“You can tell a lot from their art as you greet them. If they are drawing in the corner of the paper and the whole sheet is not utilized, then it is a self-esteem issue,” he said. “There was a woman who drew a stick figure with red lines around the wrists, ankles and neck…now you know that person is not in a great emotional place.”

A trip to his office revealed a lobby filled with sculpture, photos and sketches. The hallways were lined with Dr. Merigian’s prismatic paintings, rich in bright, beautiful hues. There were some paintings and pottery works given to him by his patients. He showed one earthy, glazed bowl in particular.

“I would never sell it. It is a prized possession. That’s a piece of her (the patient’s) soul sitting there,” he said.

When The Stone Institute opened in 2000, he spent hours making handmade cards for his patients. When the caseload grew, he began printing reprints of his original cards and supplying various poems for them. He estimated he has written hundreds of poems. One called “Clouds of Terror,” sits framed in the lobby as a memorial to the victims of 9/11. Dr. Merigian was sent to the Pentagon in the aftermath to render treatment and received a Distinguished Services Award from the Tennessee Medical Association for his efforts. The doctor also has written between 20 and 30 songs, co-authored a novel and is working on another. He has six other books outlined to write. In addition, he is currently taking scraps from a metal roof installation on his home and welding it into sculptures for his backyard. When asked how he accomplishes so much, he has an easy answer.

“As Americans, we multitask and we can never complete anything, but we’re doing lots of stuff. I have more of a European consciousness, where I feel you ought to pick out a project and take it to its end. Then, go to the next thing. I get more done that way,” he explained.

The mosaic of this physician/artist’s history has been a series of unlikely juxtapositions. Poverty was overshadowed by opportunity through Cranbrook High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. The boarding school had an art center in the middle of the campus, a planetarium, a theater and science and computer labs—and this was in the 1970s. It was a unique education experience for this boy from the wrong side of the tracks in Detroit. He applied, tested and went on a full scholarship.

“Cranbrook is like nothing else imaginable. It was the number one thing that changed me as a person,” Dr. Merigian said.

From Cranbrook, it was off to Kalamazoo College and then medical school at Michigan State University. He completed an internship and residency in emergency medicine at University of Cincinnati Hospital as well as postgraduate education in toxicology/pharmacology.

Although he came from a family of artists, he was not encouraged to go in that direction. His uncle, his aunt, brother, sister, father and grandfather were all artists, but his father was worried about his kids not being able to make a living.

“I became a physician to impress my father, but my true passion is the arts,” he said. “Art is something I am driven to do. People will tell me maybe it’s my therapy, but even if it is, that in and of itself is enough to do it.”

by Ginger H. Porter