Class helps patients heal through art

 Donna Shaver of Sioux City is finding a new way to relax and express herself through “Art and Healing,” a new art therapy program of the Nylen Cancer Center.In her first project she assembled broken mosaic tiles into a large flower pot that now holds a bright, red geranium. She has tried her hand at watercolors and pastel chalk drawings, too, in the free classes at the Sioux City Art Center.Shaver signed up last spring following her breast cancer support group and has continued this fall.Classes are funded through a $7,800 grant from the Kind World Foundation.“In class you get to express yourself. It’s very relaxing,” she says. “It’s also given me a chance to do things I’ve never had a chance to do. I really enjoy it.”Class can add humor to life, too, Shaver says.“You can wonder ‘what was I thinking?’” she says, “so it makes you think and laugh.”Art therapy is another way the Cancer Center supports its patients, Shaver says.Following her diagnosis three years ago, Shaver had a lumpectomy, extensive lymph node removal and radiation treatment. Today she feels great; gardens, volunteers, and exercises in weekly fitness classes.And she’s found special time to discover an interest and talent for art.Art and Healing classes are offered Mondays at the Art Center at 10:30 a.m. and Tuesdays at 4 p.m. For more information check the events calendar on the new kiosk at the cancer center or call 712-252-9426.