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SHIRI REVITAL BILIK
Special to the Jewish News

Ann Arbor
ide by side along a bright
corridor at the University of
Michigan Comprehensive
Cancer Center, Merrill
Shapero's pictures are lined up, a tes-
tament to his unrelenting vision of
healing and hope.
In sharp pen outlines and lucid
watercolor, they are images of
Shapero's everyday life at the cancer
center. In one, Shapero's feet, clad in
University of Michigan slippers, peek
at the viewer from a white hospital
bed. In another, Shapero has painted
his "Vanity" — the foot-operated
sink in his room. Two paintings are
brighter than the others — visualiza-
tions of Shapero's own cancer cells.
As a patient at the cancer center, the
Bloomfield Hills resident created 10
paintings, each whimsical and vivid.
On Oct. 19, they were displayed as part
- cer center's
of a dedication of the can
new Healing Arts program.
The cancer center started Healing
Arts to provide additional supportive
therapies to its patients. According to
art therapist Shannon Scott, the pro-
gram seeks to help cancer patients
reduce anxiety, build new coping skills
and gain a sense of self-awareness.
"A lot of what goes on when you're
going through cancer is beyond
words," Scott said. "Sometimes, hav-
ing a place where you can focus on
shapes and colors and how they make
you feel can be a lot less threatening."

S

Tuneful Experience

With Healing Arts, cancer patients
have such a place. To celebrate its
dedication, the cancer center put on a
night of art and performance.
The official dedication was opened
by Suzanne Mahler, the program's
director, who explained the principles
guiding Healing Arts. "We humans
are many parts. We are loving beings,
creative and knowing beings, and we

Eric Van De Vort designed the"88
Keys" quilt to represent the reguktrity
of a piano keyboard, with the curves
of the hUnian body.

New initiative combines art, music
and therapy at U-M cancer center.

need all those parts to heal from a
disease such as cancer."
Mahler introduced another element
of Healing Arts: 88 Keys. She always
wanted the center to have its own baby
grand piano. As a End-raiser, donors
helped acquire the piano, one key at a
time; for $175, donors can buy a key to
honor a loved one, and have the hon-
oree's name stitched onto a commemo-
ration quilt.
Although not all its keys have been
purchased, the Yamaha baby grand
has already been delivered; it stood as
a centerpiece at the Oct. 19 events.
U-M music professor Louis Nagel
and his wife, Julie, a psychologist,
inaugurated the piano with a four-
hand selection by Liszt. Both Nagels
have lost a parent to cancer.
Following the piano pieces, Michael
Samuelson, a longtime cancer patient
advocate and a survivor of breast cancer,
read "Close Your Door on the Way
Out," a poem he wrote
about his psychological
battle with cancer.

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Merrill Shapero, shown
with his family, at the
Oct. 19 dedication.

Magical Moments

Ending the evening, Merrill Shapero
shared his experiences with an audi-
ence that included his wife of 44
years, Myrna, and their daughters.
An accountant by profession, he
said painting initially made him feel
like a "fish out of water." Despite
some difficulty, Shapero said once he
started painting, "it was like magic.
Maybe it was something that I experi-
enced that could only come from a
hospital setting."
Shapero's creations will be dis-
played as the inaugural pieces at the
cancer center's Survivor Art Gallery.
Although he is no longer staying at
the cancer center and is now continu-
ing to receive care from his Oakland
County home, he said his connection
with the staff and the program
remains strong.
"I can't begin to tell you how hard
it was for me at the beginning," he
said, directing his attention to the
staff, "and how easy you made it for
me towards the end."
At an event celebrating the healing
power of art, he asked, as both an
artist and a patient, that everyone
take hold of the humor and promise
his paintings depict.
Looking straight at the audience,
he said, "You have, on this evening,
on this most beautiful autumn night,
to look ahead." ❑