By Sharon (Alexander) Perrins | Lead Teaching Artist, Hospital Programs
Artists continue to be found in all corners of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) campus. We wanted to share vignettes from a typical week.
On a recent Tuesday, we had two older sisters of a young in-patient at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital working gleefully (paint! clay!) with CHAP on the 9th floor. They had fun with us while their parents spent time speaking with medical staff about their sibling's prognosis.
On Wednesday we engaged a young woman being treated as an in-patient at OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, who beaded two stunning necklaces for her friends. The design of the second necklace started in the Family Room, but the nurse had to ask the patient to return to her room for a medical procedure. Ten minutes before we were scheduled to leave, we walked down to her room – wire cutters and flat nose pliers in-hand – to get her across the finish line by adding clasps to her jewelry pieces.
Thursday, way up on the 13th floor of Kohler Pavilion in the Knight Cancer Institute's in-patient Adolescent + Young Adult Oncology program, two 20-something brothers - one a patient, the other a visitor - worked side by side beading. Periodically one would say something and they'd laugh together.
On Friday morning, two very sweet sisters with perfect braids were engrossed in making jewelry with CHAP outside of Pediatric Surgery on the 8th floor of Doernbecher Children's Hospital, while their parents waited anxiously for news of their sibiling's surgery.
On Friday afternoon, a family on the Pediatric Hematology + Oncology in-patient unit (10 South) covered the front of a cotton T-shirt with their hand prints. The teenage sister lovingly identified each family member's hand. Then she added an inspiring quote – a line from her brother's favorite song – on the back of the T-shirt with her great penmanship and a handy fabric marker.
They come to us two by two. Brothers, sisters, friends, spouses, mother and child. This is our version of Noah's Ark. We are pleased to provide them with a little solace of art-making, wherever we encounter them. Thank you for making this work possible.
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