This past October, my good friends’ daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia. News you never want even your worst enemy to receive. I remember so clearly walking into the hospital that day to visit them when she was first admitted. Weaver wing, 4th floor: the cancer floor. I expected it to be miserably depressing. While the news about our friend was fresh and saddening, what I mostly saw was happy kids making the best of their situation. Kids hooked up to IV poles being pushed down the hall in little tykes play cars. Kids who would grin right back when you gave them a smile.
Fast forward a few days and I went up to the hospital to visit during a weekday. I hadn’t had the opportunity to explore on my previous visit, and I wanted to check out some of the common spaces on the floor. Let me tell you–we are a LUCKY community to have such a great children’s hospital in Jacksonville! In the football themed playroom (thanks to Tim Tebow), I found children, some wheelchair bound, some seemingly healthy, intensely working on art projects. One boy was drawing a Seattle Seahawks logo, one was working on a girly masterpiece of rainbows and flowers, and another kid was joyfully pouring globs of paint on a piece of paper and then folding it to see what shape it made and how the colors combined. There were artists there encouraging the children and making conversation with them.
The organization providing the art experience with patients is Art with a Heart in Healthcare. Since their founding in 2001 by cousins Lori Guadagno and Lisa Landwirth Ullmann, Art with a Heart in Healthcare has served thousands of patients and their families at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Clinic. And it’s not just the cancer floor; it’s almost every single floor and department treating children.
As a non-profit organization, they are dedicated to enhancing the healing process of sick kids. Six days a week a talented team of staff artists, community volunteers and interns from UNF and UF develop sessions individualized to meet the needs of patients and families at the bedside or in groups. The majority of these art sessions happen bedside for kids who are too weak or immune compromised to leave their room. Artists come in and give these kids a choice of mediums. They let them choose what they’ll be drawing or painting or choose just to watch the artist create something. For sick kids who don’t have a choice in what medicines they have to take or procedures they have to endure, having this choice is a BIG deal!
Giving these kids a creative outlet helps humanize the high-tech atmosphere of the clinical settings while diminishing fear, pain, boredom and depression associated with hospitalization. It’s something the patients look forward to–not only the creating of the art but also the interaction with the resident artists and volunteers.
That day in the playroom, I witnessed kids being kids, not patients. Kids being immersed in the creative process and, if even for only a few minutes, they weren’t thinking about their cancer. That is for sure!
How can YOU help!?
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Art with a Heart in Healthcare relies on our community’s support to help provide high-quality art supplies and fine art experiences to their patients. Your gift, no matter what size, makes this possible! Click here for more info on how to give!
Art with a Heart uses Dick Blick art supplies when working with patients and families. Dick Blick provides quality fine art supplies with low toxicity levels to keep their patients safe. Click here to view art supplies and materials currently in need. Items listed as a “High Priority” are put into Art-to-Go bags and are directly donated to the patients.
View Patient’s Work
The collection of work currently being shown is titled “Unmasked.” The mask does not represent a face. It is a metaphor for what lives inside the artist, a canvas on which a patient’s story can be told. Each artist started with a question “what’s in your head?” The work is amazing! A limited showing is currently on display at Unity Plaza until April 11th. The whole show will move to Ponte Vedra Cultural Center on April 15th until the end of May.
Follow Art with a Heart in Healthcare on Instagram and Facebook for a glimpse into the awesome work being done locally at Wolfson and Nemours. The snapshots of artwork coming out of this program daily are incredible and will brighten your day!
Please consider giving to and/or getting involved with this amazing local charity!
