Since the Shands Arts in Medicine program started Art in Motion, a program for Parkinson’s disease patients, Kathy Castle has been participating in the classes every week making mosaics, collages and other crafts.
Castle was just one of the artists who proudly displayed their work Sunday at the first Shands Arts and Health Festival.
About 75 Shands patients and festival-goers participated in activities such as T-shirt painting, Zumba and yoga classes.
Events like this, Castle said, are good ways for Parkinson’s disease patients and other patients to get out of the house or hospital room and do something fun that allows them to mingle with others.
“Art can make a huge difference in the healing environment and the hospital experience,” said Alie Wickham, program assistant for Shands Arts in Medicine.
“We need people to be involved to help this field grow and develop,” she said.
Shands Arts in Medicine was started in 1990 and currently works with Shands at UF, the Shands Cancer Hospital and surrounding clinics.
The program helps to facilitate creative art activities and bring the arts to patients in local hospitals, according to Wickham.
The program has various classes available for patients in areas such as dance, music, literary arts and visual arts.
Chip Colley, 54, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease nearly two years ago.
Now, he’s an artist within Shands Arts in Medicine program.
“I couldn’t draw until I got Parkinson’s,” Colley said. “I really started enjoying art.”
The festival was held primarily to raise awareness about arts and health and to support the community, Wickham said.
“Art is not an alternative to the health care that Shands provides,” Wickham said. “It is a complement. Patients need to heal spiritually along with physically, and art can play a key role in that.”
