Through the Healing Arts program, we provide opportunities for cancer patients, caregivers and the broader community to engage with the arts.
The arts have powerful healing properties because art connects your mind and your body. Unlike exercise, which works your body, or meditation, which clears your mind, creating art uses both, which research suggests has major health benefits.
When a patient works with an art or music therapist, they can expect to receive the same benefits as traditional talk therapy. In cancer care, we focus on several goals to help relieve the emotional concerns of a cancer diagnosis, including:
The David DiChiera Music Therapy Program brings music therapy to cancer patients, their families and caregivers.
Learn more about the Art Therapy at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute, including what programs are available.
Our 2021 Patient Art Show was on display at Henry Ford Cancer Institute- Detroit in June and July. You can revisit the inspiring gallery here.
If you are an artist interested in sharing your time and/or talents with Henry Ford Cancer Institute patients, families and staff, contact our healing arts curator.
It is through the support and contributions of donors like you that we can provide art and music therapy programs and activities at no-cost to our cancer patients and their families. To sponsor a program or care it forward with a gift, please contact the development office at (313) 876-1031 or email [email protected]. All contributions are tax-deductible.
With a passion for the arts and a keen eye as an interior designer, Lindsay Anderson knows how important the right space can be. It was this passion that inspired her to establish the Lindsay Anderson Healing Arts Curator Fund at Henry Ford Health System. This generous gift supports a curator for the Healing Arts program at the Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion. The Healing Arts Program creates a calming environment for patients, visitors and staff by integrating the creative arts and aesthetic experiences into the healing process.
Music is more than just entertainment—it can promote healing, too. David DiChiera, founder and longtime director of the Michigan Opera Theatre knew this. In honor of David, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2018, Joanne Danto, along with her family through the Marvin & Betty Danto Foundation, established the David DiChiera Music Therapy Program at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute. Their goal is to ensure that cancer patients have access to healing therapies that better position them mentally and physically for their fight ahead.
Contact the cancer team 24/7 by calling
Please call 911 if you have an emergency or urgent medical question.
Already a Henry Ford patient?
For the best experience, existing Henry Ford patients can request and self-schedule appointments through Henry Ford MyChart.
Henry Ford Health System is committed to ensuring our Deaf or hard-of-hearing patients and visitors have equal access to all services. We provide the appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified sign language interpreters, TTYs and other assistive listening devices, at no cost. To request assistance, call 313-916-1896 or email [email protected].
