Sharon Carlile contributed to the mural at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center, where she's undergoing chemotherapy. (Leah Johnson/Staff)
Staff writer Leah Johnson reports:
Passers-by watched in wonder as doctors, patients and their families painted a mural dedicated to those battling cancer.
Some couldn’t help but stop and pick up a brush, too.
The Hope Murals Project drew a crowd Tuesday at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center. In its 10th year, the initiative gives patients and their loved ones a chance to express their cancer journeys through art and narrative.
“I like watching the emotions,” said Andi David, marketing representative for Lilly Oncology and Hope Murals. “People feel touched by the art and being a part of the project.”
Lilly Oncology brought the two-day event to 10 cities across the U.S. to support those affected by cancer. The paintings are created through a collaborative “paint-by-numbers process,” using the artwork of past winners of Lilly’s Oncology on Canvas competition.
The finish mural, created with 60 paintbrushes and 10 gallons of paint, will be a 12-by-20-foot canvas that will be displayed at Fair Park during the State Fair of Texas.
“Painting is a small thing to do, but I feel like I’m contributing,” said Sharon Carlile, who is being treated for uterine cancer at the center. “It’ll be forever you know? I can go to Fair Park and say ‘Oh, I painted that section!’”
Carlile is undergoing chemotherapy for uterine cancer. She says she went more than 40 years without seeing a doctor. When she did finally go, she discovered she had cancer, diabetes and high calcium levels.
“Never did I ever think cancer,” she said. “It made me wake and realize I want to be there for my family.”
The event wraps up today at 5 p.m.