WASHINGTON 鈥� Regina Zellars was driving up to MedStar Washington Hospital Center鈥檚 main entrance on Tuesday morning when something unusual caught her eye: She spotted several tables covered in canvasses, paint bottles and paint brushes.
Zellars stopped to inquire about the setup, and it wasn鈥檛 long before she threw on an apron and joined the 20-plus patients, health care providers and passers-by gathered around the tables.
鈥淲hen I saw them out here I said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 what I need,鈥欌�� Zellars said as she leaned over a half-painted canvas with a brush full of blue paint.
Zellars had just left her 26-year-old daughter on the second floor in the hospital鈥檚 Cancer Institute to receive treatment for skin cancer. A few minutes of mindless painting was a welcome escape. 聽
鈥淚 just appreciate putting my energies into this,鈥� Zellars said.
Tuesday鈥檚 painting event was the national kickoff for , a campaign that travels to 50 states in 50 days to connect cancer patients, survivors and supporters to art. At each stop, participants paint on paneled canvas murals using a paint-by-numbers approach. After the two-hour session, the completed murals are donated to the host hospital.
鈥淥ur goal is really to make hospitals more cheerful, bright places for patients and staff,鈥� said Brian McCagh, who is on the board at , the nonprofit behind the campaign.
The foundation鈥檚 Executive Director Scott Feight added, 鈥淏ecause if [patients] are in a place that鈥檚 depressing and white and 鈥� clinical, there鈥檚 not really a lot of hope for recovery.鈥�
There鈥檚 no doubt the finished murals will enliven hallways, hospital rooms and other spaces dedicated to healing, but their creation also helps those fighting for their lives.
When Anna U Davis was diagnosed with multifocal invasive breast cancer in 2013, she says she was in total shock 鈥� and that quickly gave way to fear when she was faced with questions, scenarios and the unknown.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know how bad it is,鈥� said Davis, a Northwest D.C. resident and artist.
She struggled to find the words to describe her thoughts and feelings, so she started a drawing journal instead.
鈥淚 drew everything that I was going through. I think putting that down in images is sometimes easier than putting it in words. Not everybody wants to talk,鈥� she said.
Dr. Maria Nunes, an attending physician at the MedStar Washington Cancer Institute and an assistant professor at Georgetown University, says for patients, art provides a brief departure from everything the disease demands and helps them remember who they were before the diagnosis.
鈥淐ancer is such an overwhelming diagnosis that it easily takes over your existence and transforms you from a person into a patient,鈥� she said. 鈥淎rt provides you a refuge from that mindframe, and allows you to remember again that life is full of beautiful things.鈥�
The brief painting break took Zellars鈥� mind away from cancer for a short while, and she hopes the final product does the same for future patients and families at the hospital.
鈥淵ou know, any way that I can help other people, I think it鈥檚 important,鈥� she said.
PaintFest America will conclude its 50-day run on Aug. 23 in New York.
