Artists-in-Residence

The success of these workshops led to the creation of the Artist-in-Residence (AIR) model where an artist works one-on-one with a patient in a highly personalized interaction, adapted to meet the specific needs, interest and setting of each patient. At the end of each session a patient was able to take away a work of art, having been transported for a time away from a focus on their cancer treatment. Sessions with artists on the inpatient units, particularly with end-of-life, palliative patients, tend to have a longer duration, sometimes lasting hours, depending on the patient’s energy level and needs. These interactions tend to occur on a “deeper” level, with patients communicating their life stories to the artist and expressing their need to understand meaning and the stories of their lives.

Artists are able to translate these patient stories into both prose and images — if the patients are too ill to create work themselves — leaving the patient and their family members with a keepsake in the form of a handmade Japanese paper book with images and text.

Additional Programs

Other programs have focused on the wellbeing of healthcare professionals. We discovered the high unmet need that exists among healthcare workers to have an outlet for creativity to provide relief from the stress of their work and to experience art and creativity. Curated museum visits (such as to the Menil Collection in Houston) and workshops have provided venues for professionals caring for cancer patients to experience art firsthand in a community, led by professional artists and curators. 

During the pandemic, the need for creative self-expression and connection for both cancer patients and frontline healthcare workers is even more acute. In 2020, we responded to these needs by adapting our successful program models to a virtual platform. After initial piloting, we are pleased to report that a virtual model is able to provide improvements in wellbeing, as reported by participants and family members.  (insert description of virtual pilot program written by Marcia here).