Fighting cancer through their art, victims share hope

The exhibition -- the second of its kind -- features the work of many cancer survivors, artists and University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center supporters. Cancer Center Director John Glick opened the reception by speaking about the background for the event. He explained that the the exhibit helped him understand the pain of his patients. After Glick, University President Judith Rodin commended the Center's efforts to fight cancer at the molecular and clinical, as well as emotional and psychological, levels. The exhibition, Rodin said, "is a special inspiration to the researchers and physicians, nurses and other health care workers at our medical center who daily are devoting themselves to defeating cancer." The Center's first exhibit, presented in 1996, was so well-received that it helped establish a tradition of uniting artists affected by cancer through their art. Most of the works on display at the new exhibit portray the artists' own experience with cancer or the pain of a loved one. Elizabeth Hollon, for example, is an art therapist who believes that her three-dimensional pieces help her patients combat their illness. The work she presented in the exhibit was strongly affected by the death of an art dealer friend who died of cancer. Doina Adam -- a Romanian artist whose work was affected deeply by the death of a close friend from breast cancer -- honors all the women who are victims of breast cancer through her work, which focuses on the frailty of the female body. The exhibition boasts different art forms ranging from paintings, three-dimensional pieces and ceramic vases to wooden benches and quilts. Additionally, Kathleen Smith, a 1989 Penn alumna, contributed a beadwork evil eye charm that she claimed helped her ward off the evil of cancer after it affected her mother. Merle Spandorfer found that her childhood dream of becoming an artist helped her express her emotions and heal when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is also the author of Making Art Safely, published five years ago, which encourages artists to use non-toxic materials. Referring to a painting entitled "Prostate Roar" by Ian Summers, a victim of prostate cancer, Galley Curator Dylis Winegrad highlighted the unequal representation of male artists in the exhibition, who were greatly outnumbered by female artists displaying their work.