Arts as Healing Foundation

Help Arts as Healing Expand and Serve More Patients

Arts as Healing Foundation (AAHF)  is an innovative, St. Louis-based non-profit organization that provides free art lessons and a variety of other educational activities to cancer patients and those with chronic illnesses.   That is our mission. Through AAHF, participants have found a joyous release for untapped creative expression and relief from focusing on their illnesses. Our program plays a key role in the recovery process with a major impact on the well-being and self-esteem of our patient-artists.

Our Story
Our organization was founded in 2005 by Vicki Friedman, a two-time cancer survivor and professional artist, who recognized that people with cancer and chronic illnesses suffer physically as well as emotionally – often from stress and feelings of depression. Vicki took action to address this problem by founding Arts as Healing. For its first 8 years, it was located at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis which provided working space and volunteer support.  In 2013, AAH separated from Siteman and was established as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation with Vicki Friedman as its  Founder and Executive Director. Our non-profit status has allowed AAHF to greatly expand its reach to the broader St. Louis community. Today AAHF provides free art classes to thousands of people in spaces donated by Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Missouri Baptist Hospital, ArtMART, Art Unleashed, Washington University Art School, and the Cancer Support Community.  Our classes provide individualized instruction in a safe, non-judgmental environment where participants can connect with other people confronting similar challenges resulting from their illnesses.


Vicki Friedman provides the creative direction and public outreach for this non-profit.   She also teaches classes and has recruited and trained working artists to assist with the classes on a voluntary basis.  

Studio classes, held outside the hospital environment, provide an opportunity for individualized instruction. Students are able to explore their innate artistic ability as they learn to use a variety of artwork media to create projects such as tile painting, pottery, collage, water color, acrylic and oil paintings, and drawing with charcoal and colored pencils. More importantly, they are introduced to a different way of seeing through guided lessons, exploration, and individual critiques. Using their new skills as a means of self-expression enhances their sense of well-being. The studio classes also become a way of meeting other people living with cancer in a setting that is not medical and yet very therapeutic.


The value of collaboration is demonstrated in AAH group projects where each person produces a segment of a larger work; as many as 40 people may work on one piece of art. This collaborative art binds them together. It’s a magical experience.  One of the first large-scale projects was a mosaic tile installation that Vicki initiated. She hoped to get 100 cancer patients to produce a 4-foot display.  However, the project was so successful that patients are still creating tiles. Today, more than 2,500 colorful, hand-designed tiles adorn the wall facing the main elevator bank on Siteman’s seventh floor. This is the first thing patients see when the elevator doors open. 


Another such project was the 6-foot tall wooden mannequin, “Arty” who was lovingly decorated by participants at all the AAH locations.  As he traveled from one place to the other, person after person painted designs on one of the more than 300 small squares delineated on the mannequin. Many of the messages and artworks expressed hope and joy.  These laughter-filled sessions demonstrate the comradery and creative expression that have become the hallmark of AAH classes. When we do a massive art project like a mannequin, and we explain that it will be a permanent installation, and not a little arts and crafts project, it takes on meaning.  Patients know that the finished mannequin will be on permanent display at Siteman Cancer Center, and they can visit it and take joy in their individual artistic contribution as well as the total collaborative act of creation.  

What the Funds are for
Currently we have no permanent home and we are holding our classes outside the hospital in available spaces of existing commercial businesses and non-profit organizations.  We do not control our timing or the amount of space we have.  As our program has grown, we are outgrowing the donated space that we occupy.  And, it has become difficult to cart around large bins of paint supplies to every location we visit.  We need a permanent home outside the hospital, so that we can reach a broader audience of people.

With our own home, we can continue to grow our program and to help more people.  We have located an ideal office space for housing our program which is available for a two-year lease.  It is 2,500 sqft at $8.00/sqft with adequate plumbing, storage space, and most importantly, a large open space for holding classes. Your support will allow us to lease this space, purchase essential furniture and supplies, and hold art classes.  Having our own space will help us to better serve the community and to accommodate more people who seek our services.

We Need Your Help
This is the point where we need your help.  To all of the Arts as Healing supporters, patients, caregivers, and families --- and to anyone who has or knows someone with a chronic illness and who is learning about us through this write-up, we are asking you personally to help us expand our program and help more people.  We need a place we can call our own.  A place where we can hold classes, train artists, store supplies, and administer our growing program.  Visit the Arts as Healing website.  See us on Facebook and Instagram .

P.S. To all of our Arts as Healing Participants, we thank you in advance for your support.

Note: ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE, BECAUSE WE ARE A 501(c)(3).