Creative Arts Team helps people manage cancer treatment

Drawing, painting, printmaking and making a collage – even simply coloring – can be a big help when it comes to navigating through cancer treatment.

“There’s something about working with your hands that silences the anxieties in your mind,” says multidisciplinary artist Evelyn Bellreng, one of three artists-in-residence at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “It’s a nice distraction from what patients, and their families, are going through, and allows them to find another outlet to deal with all the emotions that come with being here.”

As members of the Roswell Park Creative Arts Team, Bellreng and fellow artists Emma Stanton and Andy Krzystek help inpatients and outpatients, family members and caregivers explore the healing benefit of visual creativity. They provide prepackaged kits with coloring books and colored pencils, offer one-on-one artistic inspiration to patients in hospital rooms, and conduct drop-in art classes in the Roswell Park Art Heals Gallery and Studio, located on the first floor near the mail room.

Inpatients who are interested in having art supplies and/or one of the artists come to their room can make a request through their nurse. “I was referred to a patient who was really interested in acrylic painting, so I went up (to the floor) and spent the day painting with her,” Krzystek says, adding that it’s a form of escapism. “It allows them to exist mentally somewhere different. That’s a big thing. It gives them a little bit of a break from what’s going on right in front of them.”

Outpatients, family members and caregivers interested in creating art in the Art Heals Gallery studio can check the Patient Calendar on the Roswell Park website to learn about scheduled activities, which include painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, small sculpture, bookmaking – and accommodation for most special requests. The studio is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there’s no need to sign up in advance.

“I find a lot of caregivers are here instead of the inpatient unit just to take a break from the stress,” says Stanton, who works primarily with oil and acrylic.

Roswell Park Arts Administrator William Vogel maintains that while inpatients are generally regarded as the most vulnerable and in need of support, there are more outpatients than inpatients.

“There are thousands of people who come to the hospital every day. We wanted to focus on that, because there’s a lot of opportunity for growth and helping people,” he says of the mission of the Creative Arts Team. “If you want to come and make art, if you need more watercolor, or another set of brushes, everything is included. It’s not part of anyone’s medical expense. We’re not a therapy program, so there’s no cost for our services. We’re not trying to treat anything; we’re just trying to help people feel better about their lives.”

A Quality-of-Life grant from the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation compensates the Creative Arts Team for their aesthetic guidance and provides and funds art supplies and studio equipment that supports paint, collage, bookmaking, small sculpture and other art projects, as well as cut vinyl to make block prints.

“Patients can experience the healing benefit of art thanks to the generosity of donors who support the Creative Team, part of Roswell Park’s Quality of Life program,” says Development Communications Manager Jennifer Schifferle.

In addition to the Creative Arts Team and Art Heals Gallery and Studio, Roswell Park’s arts program includes the Kathleen and Joseph Curatolo Pediatric Visual Art Program – which provides arts experiences for Roswell Park’s youngest patients – and the Alliance Foundation art collection, which features more than 1700 diverse works by diverse artists mounted throughout the main campus.

Expanding the healing support

Stanton says that while she has researched other arts in healthcare programs in New York State, she has not yet found any as comprehensive as what’s offered at Roswell Park.

“Even if someone is not good at making art, they’re often appreciative of the company and they like you just being there to listen and empathize with them,” she explains. "They also feel they made something they can take home with them, and while it’s a really rough time for them, they feel the arts team definitely made a positive impact on their stay.”

Stanton, Krzystek and Bellreng all hold arts degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo and exhibit regularly throughout the city and region. When asked what they want most for people to know about the Roswell Park Creative Arts Team, they all say they would like more inpatients, outpatients, family members and caregivers to know about, and take advantage of, the healing support they offer both on the hospital floors and in the Art Heals Gallery and Studio.

“I think it’s something that everybody can benefit from. I think the world can benefit from more art in general,” says Krzystek, who is grateful to be using his creative spirit to help others learn to use art as a tool for steering through a hard time.

Says Bellreng: “I often talk to people that are, like, ‘Oh my gosh! I had no idea this was here. This is so cool!’”