At Roswell Park Cancer Institute, a new definition of “healing arts”

Marc Murray (left) with artist-in-residence Stuart Fuchs

Marc Murray lost track of time during the 53 days he was hospitalized at Roswell Park Cancer Institute following a bone marrow transplant. During the long recovery, he says, he “got in a slump where I just wanted to sit in a chair all day.” Then in walked a guy with a didgeridoo and a ukulele. 

The guy was Stuart Fuchs, a multi-talented musician, member of the gypsy jazz band Babik, and one of six artists-in-residence at Roswell Park. Since September 2008, Fuchs and five other artists have been sharing their talents with patients and visitors alike.  On Mondays, visual artist Ann Frank invites patients to draw with art supplies provided at a table outside the Breast Clinic. On Thursdays, actor/storyteller Joy Scime tells a story outside the Gynecology Clinic while Sheila Dollas dances and Barbara Murak and Pragna Hathi Wood create visual art that interprets the story. 

Studies have shown that cancer patients who participate in art activities in hospital settings report feeling less bored, sad and anxious. That’s what it’s all about, according to Margarita Coyne, RN, BSN, Director of Patient Services, who helped bring the artists to Roswell Park through the Arts in Healthcare initiative of the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts. Both Roswell Park and Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo are partners in the initiative. 

“In the healthcare field, we tend to look at patients in terms of their bodies and the physical tasks we can do to help them – starting an IV, giving them chemotherapy, making their bed,” Ms. Coyne explains. She says art and music complement that physical care by nourishing the soul, providing a welcome distraction, facilitating communication and reminding patients and families that “there are other things going on in life.” Mr. Fuchs adds that arts activities can also produce positive physical responses that promote a sense of well-being. 

The work of Roswell Park’s artists-in-residence—who were selected and trained for the program through U.B.’s Center for the Arts—is funded by The John R. Oishei Foundation and gifts from Samuel Son & Co., Inc., The Pepsi Bottling Group and The Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation. 

Ms. Coyne notes that the artists’ presence adds a new dimension to Roswell Park’s longstanding commitment to the arts as a component of patient care. Donations to the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation fund the Music in the Lobby program, the acquisition of artwork displayed in patient areas of the hospital, and the Paint Box Project art program for pediatric patients.