Free art program becomes lifeline for Hamilton cancer patients
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Introduction
A room at the Art Gallery of Hamilton is alive with bursts of conversation and laughter as 20 people follow an instructor helping them navigate brush strokes for their individual still life exercises.
Wendy Debicki, 71, is one of the animated painters, and she’s joined by her friend and caregiver, 66-year-old Leslie Cifelli.
The two women are taking part in a free, eight-week program called Artful Moments, run by a unique partnership between the Cancer Assistance Program (CAP) and the AGH that brings art appreciation and painting to individuals and families affected by cancer.
Understanding the Impact of Art
“The word cancer doesn’t even come up. I don’t even think about it. It’s fantastic,” the Ancaster resident says about the program.
Debicki has chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow that her doctors discovered in June when she consulted with them for her unsteady gait.
“Leslie is my adopted sister,” says Debicki, who has been drawn to art since a young age, experimenting with polymer clay and then acquiring a wheel and a kiln along the way.
“She’s wonderful. She schleps my stuff back and forth as I have trouble with my balance sometimes,” adds Debicki.
“She dragged me kicking and screaming into this,” laughs Cifelli, who says that, unlike Debicki, she didn’t grow up with an art background even though she had a keen appreciation.
Debicki’s husband died nine years ago, and her four children live elsewhere. As a result, she has to negotiate her day-to-day life, and her condition, by herself.
“Being isolated when you’re older, and particularly if you’re ill, is your worst enemy,” says Debicki.
So, when she was introduced to the program by a social worker, she felt a strong compulsion to act. “I decided that my life isn’t going to be cancer,” she says.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I want to live. I don’t know how long I’ve got,’” adds Debicki.
When she got into CAP’s debut art program — one of 10 slots that received 50 applications — she could think of no one else to bring along for the ride than Cifelli.
She’s been one of Debicki’s best friends since they enrolled their kids in the same preschool.
CAP, which receives no public funding and relies solely on community donations, always tries to incorporate the caregiver in their programs, says Debbie Butler, executive director of CAP.
“The caregiver has to get them to the appointments, make sure they’re eating, and much more,” says Butler.
“So, this is a really beautiful moment for caregivers and cancer patients to have fun,” she adds.
Visiting the AGH
When the duo arrive at the AGH on their appointed day of the week — they make their way to a specific gallery with a specific theme and accompanying artwork.
There, under the guidance of a facilitator, they explore themes and feelings expressed in the works.
“We talked about portraits a couple of weeks ago, and there was all this meaning in them,” says Debicki.
“I had no idea that portraits had that kind of meaning,” she adds.
They all then head off to their studio room where the clients and their caregivers sit down and, steered by the same facilitator, create a piece of art reflective of what they’ve just learned.
Appreciation of art aside, there is something more fundamental being experienced.
“Here, everybody is so vocal. Conversations are stimulating. I don’t get to experience that most of the time,” says Debicki.
“In our first session, one of the participants leaned over to one of the organizers and said, ‘this is the first time in a long time I haven’t thought about cancer all day,’” says Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, head of programs and learning at the AGH.
The AGH's Approach to Programming
The program is, in fact, an extension of the original Artful Moments devised in 2011 for dementia patients by Kilgour-Walsh.
She has since expanded it to other areas such as autism and mental illness.
“We approach programming in a way where it’s all very much centred on the participant rather than the content. And then we arrange everything to support that,” adds Kilgour-Walsh.
For Debicki, it’s the kind of medicine she cannot do without.
“It’s a place where I know I’m going to go and I’m going to have some social contact, I’m going to have some fun and I’m going to feel good,” she says.
“And I’ve got my friend with me, and then we go on to talk about it all week,” she adds.
Debicki says her ongoing cancer treatment is a weekly chore at best.
“I don’t look forward to it. But I know that I have this,” she says.
“I can get through that because I’m coming here. And I look forward to it all week.”
References
Please view the original article with the Hamilton Spectator by selecting the link below.
Don’t forget to view additional educational programs through the Art Gallery of Hamilton, by clicking HERE.
Rajiv Rao is a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator. Reach him at rrao@thespec.com.
