Lecture: From Sculpture to Surgery and Back

Join us for an evening lecture by Dr. Bauer addressing the inspiration and ideas behind his work in ear reconstruction.

Lecture:

From Sculpture to Surgery and Back: Forging Beauty from Nature with 3D Thinking from Living Tissue to Wearable Art
Bruce Bauer, MD

6:00pm-8:00pm

Doors at 5:45pm

Free with RSVP

Dr. Bruce Bauer is a pediatric plastic surgeon who is internationally recognized for his contributions to ear reconstruction and treating children with giant congenital nevi. The ear is a three-dimensionally complex structure. Dr. Bauer has worked hard to understand this structure, to construct it for patients born without an ear, and to teach surgical residents how to sculpt ears in clay.

Outside of the operating room Dr. Bauer has a longstanding interest in organic forms that occur in the natural world. He channels his three-dimensional sense and attention to detail into his work as a sculptor and a creator of handcrafted jewelry. Dr. Bauer shows his work in galleries across the US and has been included in prestigious shows such as the American Craft Exposition.

In this talk, Dr. Bauer will discuss parallels between his work as a plastic surgeon and as a sculptor. He will share thoughts on how these practices have informed each other. He will discuss organic forms as they occur in the natural world and his efforts in seeing them, understanding them, and recreating them.

Bruce Bauer, M.D., FACS, FAAP, is a pediatric plastic surgeon at Shriners Children's Chicago who specializes in giant congenital nevi, ear deformities, and cleft lip and palate.

While his practice has covered the full spectrum of pediatric plastic surgery – including cleft lip and palate, craniofacial deformities, congenital and acquired ear deformities, and reconstruction of birthmarks, both vascular and pigmented – Dr. Bauer has a particular interest in the treatment of large and giant melanocytic nevi and pediatric tissue expansion for treatment of these patients, as well as treatment of other congenital and acquired deformities.

His longtime dedication to the pediatric subspecialty has resulted in both national and international referrals of complex reconstructive problems requiring the specialized reconstructive techniques he developed. He has authored or co-authored numerous papers and chapters as well as co-edited and contributed extensively to the two editions of Principles and Practice of Pediatric Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Bauer began his career at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie Children's) in 1979 in pediatric plastic surgery and became chief of the service in 1986. In 2009 he moved to NorthShore University as director of pediatric plastic surgery and was chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery from 2010 to 2015. He joined the faculty of University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine as clinical professor of surgery from 2019 to 2023, though he had been involved in training their plastic and reconstructive surgery residents since the 1990s.

Dr. Bauer joined Shriners Children’s Chicago in July 2023.