Library and Academic Services: Oncology Nursing: Cancer and Art

Cancer & Art

Art and Cancer

This page contains a vast collection of resources on where Art and Cancer intersect.

Here you will find:

Recommended keywords for searching
Joanne's recommended readings
Library resources - books, ebooks, and videos on art and cancer
Art & Cancer: Online resources including Robert Pope and other online art projects and collaborations.

Recommended Keywords for Searching

Altered body image
Art therapy
Arts-based inquiry
Arts-based research
Cancer - patients

Cancer stories
Healing
Lived experience
Psychology

Social isolation
Specific types of cancers
Stigma

Joanne L.'s Recommended Readings

Frei, J., Alvarez, S., & Alexander, M. (2010). Ways of seeing: using the visual arts in nursing education. The Journal of Nursing Education, 49(12), 672–676.
Professional nursing defines its foundation of practice as embedded in the sciences and humanities of a liberal education. This liberal education is commonly alluded to with the phrase "the art and science of nursing." Yet how do we as nursing educators integrate these two concepts? ...
Grantham, D. (2010). A rainbow named Samantha (Gentle Waters). Journal of Palliative Care, 26(1), 32–33.
The events in this report are true and based on the lived experiences of Samantha, her family, and her primary nurse. Samantha's family is proud to share her story...
Hart, J. (2010). Art Therapy and Cancer Care. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 16(3), 140–144.
*Request full text via InterLibrary Loan*
Increasing clinical experience and emerging research suggest that art therapy is an effective support tool for helping cancer survivors cope with psychosocial issues and physical symptoms. In addition, while art therapy may not be in the forefront of clinicians’ minds when considering treatment options for cancer survivors, increasing evidence suggests ...
Hector Amaya * (2004) Photography as technology of the self: Matuschka's art and breast cancer, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 17:4, 557-573
*Request full text via InterLibrary Loan*
After undergoing a mastectomy in 1991, Matuschka began photographing her nude body, and in these images she often highlighted the scar on her torso. Other women have acted in a similar fashion and have produced representations of their bodies after mastectomies. In this article the role the activity of photography plays in the process of self‐formation of Matuschka is investigated.
Iyna Caruso. (2009). The Pictures of Health: Art's healing powers. 281(1), 70–.
Prey's canvases hang on the walls of world-class institutions, in private collections, and even at the White House. The Museum of Modern Art in New York hosts a free monthly program for Alzheimer's patients in which its vast collection of modern masters ...
King, P. (2003). Listen to the children and honor their pain. Oncology Nursing Forum, 30(5), 797–800.
Examines a continuity of care model that supports children and their families from the point of diagnosis through to three years postdeath, should remission not occur. Means for children to cope and adapt to the multiple transitions that a serious illness or death imposes on their lives; ...
Knighting, K., Rowa‐Dewar, N., Malcolm, C., Kearney, N., & Gibson, F. (2011). Children’s understanding of cancer and views on health‐related behaviour: a “draw and write” study. Child: Care, Health and Development, 37(2), 289–299
Few studies have explored young children's understanding of cancer and health‐related behaviours yet this is essential to develop health promotion initiatives that build on young children's current knowledge levels and awareness.
Parsons, K., Porr, C., Pike, A., & Kelly, P. (2019). The meaning of caring for nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program: An arts-based inquiry. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 9(11), 35–
A hermeneutic phenomenological method was employed to explore the meaning students ascribed to caring in nursing. Students drew from their own experiences within the context of nursing education. Arts-based inquiry was used as the medium to elicit students’ reflections of the meaning of caring.
Sherlock, P. (2012) Adventures in Healing with River Discovery: Turning to the Rapids to Combat Cancer. The Environmental Magazine (online)
But turbulent rapids slosh over me and I do panic. I think: It would suck to survive breast cancer and die here.Then I bob up outside the boat and see Pepper, my boat’s guide. He yells “Breathe!” He chokes on the word because he is gulping the river, too. He guides my hand to the boat’s handle.
Wadeson, H. (2011). Journaling cancer in words and images : caught in the clutch of the crab . Charles C. Thomas, publisher.
This text is a vivid memoir of the author's own cancer diagnosis and treatment. Harriet Wadeson, a pioneer in the art therapy profession and author of seven other books on art therapy, here shows us her own response to the challenge of cancer.
Woodgate, R. (2006). Life is never the same: childhood cancer narratives. European Journal of Cancer Care, 15(1), 8–18.
No longer considered an inevitably fatal disease, childhood cancer nonetheless presents many challenges for children and families. Developing an understanding of the impact that childhood ...

Library resources

Art Therapy and Cancer Care by Diane Waller; Caryl Sibbett
Location: ebook
Publication Date: 2005
Inspired by the experience of art therapists who have pioneered work with people with cancer and including those who have experienced this devastating illness at first hand, ...
Music Therapy in Palliative Care by David Aldridge (Editor)
Location: ML 3920 .M89795 1998 (Located at NDC)
Within the last decade music therapists have developed their work with people who have life-threatening illnesses and with those who are dying. ...
Art in Treatment by Dee Spring
Location: ebook
Publication Date: 2006
While the intention of the book is to compare and contrast the different ideologies and practices prevalent in art therapy across the globe, it also provides an extensive look at the many venues in which art therapy is successfully applied. ...
River of Life by Walcher, Werner, et al.; National Film Board of Canada (Montreal)
Location: Streaming
Publication Date: 2009
This is the Yukon River Quest, the world's longest annual canoe and kayak race. From around the world, athletes come to test their endurance, racing day and night along 740 kilometres of rugged river shoreline. River of Life chronicles the experiences of one group of racers, the determined women who make up the 2006 Paddlers Abreast team. Candid and revealing, this beautifully-realized documentary follows the women from the moment they climb into their boat in Whitehorse to the cheers that greet them in Dawson City.

Cancer & Art: Online resources

Robert Pope

Robert Pope (1956-1992) was a dedicated Nova Scotia artist who died of Hodgkin’s Disease, cancer of the lymphatic system, at the age of 35 after a ten year battle with the illness.

He is best known for a significant body of work exploring his experience of healthcare and healing as a cancer patient exhibited nationally and internationally at over 65 venues.

They also formed the compelling visual narrative for the 1991 book he wrote called Illness and Healing, Images of Cancer. (Image and text source: Robert Pope Foundation)

Robert Pope Foundation
A website dedicated to Robert Pope. Contains links to publications and various resources.
more...less...
Image: R Pope, Healing hands

Illness & Healing: Images of Cancer by Robert Pope
Location: ebook
Publication Date: 2018
This book was an inspiration to the general public in Nova Scotia and beyond. It also became an important example of the cancer patients’ experience of illness for the medical profession and it is now a key text used in various Medical Schools in Canada and elsewhere.

Carlson, T. (1992). Turning sickness into art: Robert Pope and his battle with cancer. Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), 147(2), 229–232.
Canadian Medical Association journal (CMAJ), 1992-07-15, Vol.147 (2), p.229-232

Other Art Projects and Collaborations

Arts for health enquiry into cancer patient experience
Eleven cancer patients took part in Living Alone with Cancer Explorations, an arts-for-health initiative where they produced creative pieces that reflected their experiences. This involved writing poems, making drawings, paintings and sculptures, collating images and writing a narrative about which parts of their cancer journey do these creative pieces represent.
Breast Cancer Art Project
The online gallery of the Breast Cancer Art Project is created by the breast cancer community for the breast cancer community, yet at the same time helping others, such as family, friends and colleagues, as well as medical professionals and the wider public, to better understand what we are going through.
LIlly Oncology on Canvas
It’s never been easier to be inspired by the many artworks and stories shared here. Search by year, art type, or category.
Living Proof Exhibit
Living Proof Exhibit provides the therapeutic benefits of the arts to those impacted by cancer. This includes patients, survivors, families and caregivers. We provide monthly Creative Sessions, exhibitions of art created by cancer survivors as a annual major exhibition and permanent rotating exhibitions at the cancer centers, art-to-go projects for patients and their families, as well as utilizing Beam Pro technology to share the exhibitions at the Figge Art Museum with patients receiving treatment at the cancer centers.
McMaster, G. (2020). Visual art project conveys emotional stories of head and neck cancer survivors. Folio (online) - University of Alberta
A collaborative project at the University of Alberta—the first of its kind in Canada—aims to convey through visual art the emotional turmoil survivors of head and neck cancer endure. Entitled "see me, hear me, heal me,” the project provides a richer representation of a cancer patient’s recovery than any conventional research study could, according to U of A dentistry professor Minn Yoon, who launched the project after hearing the stories of patients.
Taylor, P. (2018) Healing Through Art. Cancer Today (online)
An article about the Breast Cancer Art Project...In the half year since the project’s founding, it has featured more than 100 works by 30 visual artists and poets. Ford accepts all submissions, in all art forms, as long as the works meet three criteria: Their contributors have or have had breast cancer; they relate to breast cancer in some way; and they are in formats that can be displayed online. ...

How a monstrous art project brought cancer patients together

For the past five months, Ian has been working with more than 1,300 patients, family members, and staff at MD Anderson to create a monumental scale river dragon sculpture entitled Okoa the Wave Rider. The sculpture, a project made possible by the Arts in Medicine Program, was built entirely on site in the Main Building.

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