Cancer center joins PaintFest event

Franciscan St. Francis Health Cancer Center is participating in a national art therapy traveling exhibit this month.

PaintFest America will visit 50 states in 50 days. The program is sponsored by the Foundation for Hospital Art. The painting event at Franciscan St. Francis begins at 10 a.m. Friday in the lobby of the cancer center, located at 8111 S. Emerson Ave.

Patients, survivors, family members and staff will create colorful panels for three large murals that will be displayed in the hospital at a later date. The murals feature different designs and offer a paint-by-numbers type of project. PaintAmerica representatives will also give guidance and provide all of the supplies.

A designated cancer patient and a cancer survivor will paint an Indiana panel, which will include both the state bird, the cardinal and state flower, the peony. That piece will be added to the 50-state mural “Stars of Hope” to be assembled in New York in August at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Comprehensive Cancer Center.