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At the Meyer Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, an annual art show spotlights the work of cancer patients who found solace and inspiration in creative expression.

For Pat Boyce-Jones, her painting of a wintry scene is more than just a piece of art she’s proud of having created — it is a symbol of healing.

Pat, 54, is a uterine cancer survivor and a participant in the Meyer Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital’s art initiative. Since 2022, the program has offered free painting classes and, shortly thereafter, hand-weaving lessons to patients diagnosed with cancer. Courses are part of NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist’s HEART (Healing and Empowerment through ART) program, which is run by the hospital’s oncology service line and a Weill Cornell Medicine program focused on blood cancer patients. 

Once a year, the team hosts an art open house at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Center for Community Health, where patients’ impressive works are put on display, and friends and families are invited to enjoy the exhibition.

“All the stress and all the frustration, all the anxiety around your diagnosis goes away,” Pat said about the art program. “You are amazed at what you made, and you can’t wait for the next class. It helps being with people.”

The classes are led by two artists who are also NewYork-Presbyterian patients. Julia Kito Kirtley, a breast cancer survivor, first led virtual painting sessions from her Brooklyn home before eventually offering them in-person. After receiving care for prostate cancer, textile artist José Picayo was inspired by a flyer at the hospital promoting Julia’s painting classes, and now teaches hand-weaving to fellow patients and hospital employees.

“Being a cancer survivor, you’re always trying to get to the other side no matter what – and art is a tool that we can use to do that,” said Kirtley. “This is really a celebration for the students and staff,” Picayo added.

For Linda Avitable, 66, the hand-weaving classes gave her an opportunity to build on an old skill. Her aunt had taught her to sew when she was a child, but she stopped after high school and only picked it up once learning of José’s sessions.

“You feel like your life has become about cancer because you’re getting an infusion, you’re recovering from an infusion, you’re going to your next doctor appointment,” said Linda, who was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. “But coming here was something that was not about my disease. It was something creative.”

Though not a student himself, Brent Ford visited this year’s open house back in January to view the works of his mother, Muriel Bulger, who died from multiple myeloma earlier this year.

“She loved it there. It was a place of comfort for her, and she loved the classes,” said Ford, who remembers his mother as small in stature but big in personality. “She didn’t believe in doing anything boring. Everything had to have color.”

Ford said that while seeing his mother’s artwork wasn’t easy, it was a wonderful way to honor her memory. “Everybody had a story about her,” he said. “I was very moved. I had to walk out of the room at one point, seeing her artwork. It was beautiful.”

The event’s organizers – Tiffany Kang, service line manager for oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, and Leana Laraque, a program coordinator at Weill Cornell Medicine who works with blood cancer patients – are excited to grow the program; and for physicians in attendance, the impact was real.

“Artistic creation can help a person reflect on their experience with cancer,” said Dr. Alan Astrow, chief of hematology and medical oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. “We’re seeing patients as whole human beings who have parts of themselves other than being passive recipients of treatment. It’s our privilege to give people a chance to express that.”