“Church in PA” by Cindy Shanks.
Two of the artists in our Arts Access Program, Cindy Shanks and Jessica Evans, have had artwork accepted in a juried exhibition to be held by the Arts in Healing Coalition from Oct. 17 through Jan. 14, 2013, in the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Morristown Medical Center.
Shanks says her painting style is “about having fun. It’s also about love. The painting titled ‘Church in PA’ is about a place that I went to as a teenager. I came up with the name first and then did the painting.” When Evans does her artwork, it allows her to get out “what I’m feeling. When you’re in a doorway or room, and you can’t get out, you feel trapped and confined. That was the idea behind the painting, ‘Trapped and You Can’t Get Out’. It’s how I was feeling that day.”
The Arts in Healing Coalition at Atlantic Health System, which also includes Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ, and Newton Medical Center, was created by a group of passionate people from the community who recognize and understand the value of the arts in the healing process. Members of the Coalition educate, inspire and encourage people to participate and share the healing benefits in the creative process.
Matheny’s Arts Access Program enables people with disabilities, such as Shanks and Evans, to create fine art, assisted by professional artist-facilitators. The Arts in Healing Coalition will hold a combination reception and holiday party from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on December 11 in Auditorium B at the Morristown Medical Center.
“Trapped and You Can’t Get Out” by Jessica Evans.
