Art program helps cancer patients remain positive

In 2015, Melbourne Beach artist Karen Chadbourne, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with Stage I lung cancer. After removing part of her lungs, doctors gave her a clean bill of health.

In 2017, the cancer reappeared, this time in Stage IV form that had already metastasized to Chadbourne’s brain. Currently, there is no cure for Chadbourne’s ALK Mutation cancer, a rare form of the disease.

Doctors prescribed eight cancer-fighting pills a day for the rest of Chadbourne’s life. She hopes these will keep her alive until a cure is found.

This story is not about Chadbourne’s cancer, however, but rather about how art has helped her cope with this extremely challenging chapter in her life.

“Cancer is a massive bulldozer that flattens everything in its path,” said Dr. Diane Robinson, program director of the Cancer Support Community at Orlando Health. “Patients start thinking of themselves just in terms of their cancer. Art reconnects them with their sense of curiosity and creativity. It shifts their focus.”

Because creating and viewing art has been proven to be beneficial for the psychological wellbeing of cancer patients and their families, Orlando Health for years has engaged considerable resources for its robust Arts in Medicine program, which nurtures the inner artist found in cancer patients and their caregivers.

Their creative efforts will be available for Brevard to see when “Art Meets Medicine — I Hope You Dance” opens in early January at Eau Gallery, 1429 Highland Ave. in the Eau Gallie Arts District of Melbourne.

Chadbourne happens to be a member of Eau Gallery, where her works are displayed. She paints several times a week at her studio in Art Oasis in Satellite Beach.

“It’s the best therapy you can have,” Chadbourne said. “I don’t think about the cancer, and when I go home, I feel so much better.”

Fellow gallery member Lolly Walton, a breast cancer survivor, volunteers at Orlando Health’s Arts in Medicine and arranged for the exhibition at Eau Gallery.

“My art journey has helped me take one day at a time,” Walton said. “It has been a constant in an ever-changing world, during good and bad times. Doing my watercolor keeps me focused and free of outside noises, issues, and changes.

"When I am painting, I am free, only to concentrate on the moment of what I am creating. It is amazing how your mind works to keep you painting for hours, that pass very quickly. It seems like I just sat down to paint, and it turns into hours.”

No question about it, art heals. Studies have shown that incorporating creativity as a wellness practice is as critical for an individual’s wellbeing as eating right and exercising regularly.

Unlike dedicated art therapy, Orlando Health’s Arts in Medicine program sets no specific goals for its participants, but rather allows art for art’s sake to encourage wellness, both physical and emotional. Patients are guided through the creative experience by a team of artists-in-residence and volunteers such as Walton.

“Our program focuses on creative expression through art lessons with a professional artist,” said Valerie Kelley, healing arts specialist with Orlando Health’s Integrative Medicine Department. “We believe that art is therapy, but we do not attach it to therapeutic goals as would an art therapy program or an art therapist. Our focus is on art for wellness.”

Orlando Health offers cancer patients and caregivers plenty of opportunity to engage in making art while receiving treatment. 

“We make art in seven different buildings at Orlando Health where adult patients are treated for cancer,” Kelley said.

The program engages patients daily in participatory art as they go through their treatments, transporting them, at least in their minds, away from the harsh reality of the chemotherapy chair to a beautiful landscape.

More than 500 pieces of art hang throughout the facilities with patient testimonials that help people humanize the healthcare experience. In addition to the visual arts, the hospital also hosts programs in music and creative writing.

“We’re building resilience skills,” Robinson said. “We’re giving them joy and hope.”

Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center welcomes artist volunteers to increase the impact of its arts-in-medicine program

 Also needed are philanthropic donations to keep the program supplied with the materials necessary. For more information, call 407-729-1449.

For more information on Eau Gallery’s upcoming “Art Meets Medicine — I Hope You Dance” exhibition, call 321-253-5553 or visit eaugallery.com.