"Art allows me to access the creative spark within me to find my way on the path to healing."

When someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, they may need to find a way to express their inner most feelings. Some people may be quite eager to express their fears, hopes and dreams - and to share their stories. Others may find it difficult to identify or verbalize feelings. The Art for Recovery program can help you "see" what you cannot articulate.

When we were in kindergarten and the teacher asked us to draw a picture, we didn't hesitate for a moment. We drew whatever came into our mind, using whatever colors we wanted. As we grew older, we realized that there would always be someone who might draw better then us. So we stopped expressing ourselves in this way. Participating in the expressive arts will give you the opportunity to share your deepest feelings without anyone judging what you do, or your ability. This experience is about you only, and belongs to you, in a safe, supportive environment.

Drawing a picture, creating a collage, writing a poem, or listening to music, however, can help heal the spirit, and restore and maintain quality of life. In addition, your loved ones may suddenly pay attention to what you have created and understand what you are feeling.

Whether at the hospital bedside or in an outpatient clinic, artists, musicians, and writers from Art for Recovery can listen to a person's unique story and demonstrate ways to express feelings in the most comfortable and appropriate way for each individual. We offer expressive arts workshops where you will find support and meet others who are going through a similar experience. All Art for Recovery projects are offered free of charge to anyone dealing with cancer.

Art for Recovery was founded in 1988 by Ernest H. Rosenbaum, MD who wanted to help patients avoid what he called "hospitalitis" and has been directed by Cindy Perlis since its inception. Due to this award-winning program's popularity, it is important to contact Art for Recovery if you would like to sign up for a particular project via email cynthia.perlis@ucsfmedctr.org or phone (415) 885-7221.

In every stage of illness, Art for Recovery meets with patients and loved ones, listening to their stories and enabling them to express what it feels like to cope with a life-threatening disease.

Do we need proof that at heals? The proof is in the smile on patients' faces after completing their first drawing, or the sudden understanding by a family member of the pain that cannot be expressed in words. The proof is in the legacy that is created by telling the story and, finally, in sharing the connection that exists between the person coping with an illness and those of us who learn and gain so much from every interaction.

Art for Recovery provides a bridge of communication, connection, and compassion through the process of creativity. Please visit the Art for Recovery website for more information.



EXAMPLES OF ART FOR RECOVERY PROJECTS INCLUDE:

The Firefly Project. Connecting teenagers and Medical Students with adults coping with life-threatening illness through a monthly exchange of letters and artwork. A Healing Service is held in the late spring where everyone meets for the first time. Two Adaptation's of the letters (written by the Director of Art for Recovery) are performed on stage by the students and patients for the community.

Groups and Workshops. Writing and art-making groups, journal workshops, art support groups offered free of charge to anyone dealing with cancer. "The Portable Artist" - an art workbook written by Art for Recovery

UCSF Medical Student Elective and Art for Recovery Internship - At the Bedside. Artists, poets, musicians, and writers are trained to visit patients at the bedside or in clinic settings.

The Breast Cancer Quilts Project gives voice to women coping with breast cancer by inviting them, their families and friends to create quilt squares using images that express their personal experience with disease. These women come from across the United States and from underserved communities throughout the Bay Area, including prisons. The squares are assembled into full-sized quilts and travel around the country. Currently there are 54 quilts in the collection and hang in rotating displays in the public areas of various locations on the UCSF Medical Center campus.

Internships. Students and artists from various institutions work as interns with the program director to learn first hand about the art-as-healing process.

The Healing Garden Music Series. Musicians, medical students, physicians, patients, and visitors perform at the bedside of patients and in the lobby of the Medical Center.

Exhibitions. Public exhibitions of patient artwork, including quilts, in corporations, religious institutions, and medical centers throughout the Bay Area.

Public Art. Our staff designed and painted murals in two units of the UCSF Medical Center and six ceiling murals in the ultrasound suites, and designed a Meditation Room located in the lobby of the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion.

Heart and Healing Project. Initiated and supervised the creation of 500 small canvas squares by patients, visitors, and staff, with the theme "heart and healing," and assembled them into four framed boxes, each containing 144 canvases, on the corridor walls of the Center.

Employee Well-Being Project. Facilitates workshops for the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center staff. These workshops recognize that employees deal not only with the ongoing stress of their work but also with emotions and reactions to the relationships they build with the patients they serve. The workshops encourage staff to express their feelings through art, humor, yoga and bereavement work.

Art for Recovery relies on private donations to continue to provide our many projects and services to the community.