History and Tribute

The Art à la Carte program is a tribute to Patti Hronek whose vitality and passion for life enabled her to live with a rare form of bone cancer for 17 years. Throughout her years as provincial coordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society’s CanSurmount volunteer program, Patti visited with hundreds of cancer patients, bringing humour, encouragement and hope to everyone she met. Weaving tales of her life as a farm girl amputee in between the lines of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, Patti combined her skills as a journalist, teacher and motivational speaker to inspire fellow patients to believe that life could be lived fully with cancer.

Patti was hospitalized for the last year of her life. Bedridden and unable to move, she chose to cling tenaciously to life while her body tumbled to the depths of pain and suffering. Patti was visited often by fellow CanSurmount volunteer, Debbie Baylin, who one day decided to bring life to the colourless walls of Patti’s hospital room by providing a selection of posters and photographs that were reminiscent of Patti’s rural Alberta home. The impact of this gesture extended way beyond aesthetics. As the pictures were hung on the walls, the sterile hospital room was transformed into a comforting, personalized environment. Each image brought powerful memories to mind, enabling Patti to remain connected to the richness of her life story as she prepared to die.

Debbie established Art à la Carte in 1994 as a tribute to her cherished friend. She initiated the program with a selection of 75 posters that were donated by museums and galleries such as The National Gallery of Canada and the Smithsonian Institute. Today this same collection has grown to include 450 canvas-mounted reproductions and giclées. Each selection reflects the styles and subjects most frequently requested by patients and their visitors. In teams of two, volunteers bring an assortment of wildlife, landscape, humour, pet and fine art canvasses to patients’ rooms on a weekly basis. Patients or their visitors then make a selection. The artwork often becomes a topic for conversation, particularly in a palliative situation.

Art à la Carte is unique to Calgary and much of North America both in concept and delivery. In addition to the bedside program, treatment areas have been decorated to create a more welcoming atmosphere throughout the hospital. A wellness area that includes a seven-panel commissioned mural provides a tranquil retreat for patients and staff. SkyCeilings™ that create illusions of nature help to calm radiation and chemotherapy patients. The Footprints Gallery was dedicated in June of 2002. Eighty original paintings, prints and photographs provide visual and emotional diversion to anyone who travels the highly stressed minor emergency and intensive care hallways of the Foothills Medical Centre. The donated pieces celebrate the memories and lives of past patients while providing local artists with a unique opportunity to showcase their talents. Both anecdotal and quantitative research projects have been undertaken to identify the outcomes associated with the program. And prototypes have been established in hospices and hospitals throughout Canada.

Art à la Carte is a little idea that is making a very big difference. Since its inception, more than 50,000 visits have been made to local health care facilities by compassionate volunteers who offer comfort to patients and families, restore dignity and heighten morale. Conceived not as a cure, but an enduring tribute and gesture of humanity, Art à la Carte has grown into a compelling and unique complement to patient care.