Healing Arts Program Takes Shape for Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center

OMAHA, Neb. — The University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine announced that the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center will include an outdoor healing garden—Leslie’s Healing Garden—as part of its Healing Arts Program.

Leslie’s Healing Garden will be created with support from Marshall and Mona Faith, longtime supporters of the Omaha, Nebraska community, with an undisclosed amount through the University of Nebraska Foundation. The healing garden is named after one of their daughters who lost her battle with pediatric cancer at age 2 ½ years old approximately 60 years ago.

The healing garden will serve as a place where patients and their families can visit to escape the realities of cancer and spend time outside enjoying the flowers, pine trees and heated walkways.

From reduced pain perception, anxiety, stress, loneliness and depression to providing new insight and clarify feelings about a cancer diagnosis and treatment, the Healing Arts Program will include the most motivating and meaningful works of art to help heal the human spirit.

The Healing Arts Program could feature more than 200 pieces of original works of art that would reflect a diversity of cultures and perspectives; create an oasis of calm that provides pleasant distractions from the anxiety of visits and treatments and provide patients, staff and visitors opportunities for introspection that will motivate, rejuvenate and build endurance to fight against cancer on all fronts.

Three additional spaces at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, and in conjunction with the 1 percent for arts legislation, will also support the mission of the Healing Arts Program. The three spaces were identified based on the opportunity to touch approximately 5,000 people each day. The artists whose work will fill the three spaces will be chosen within the next month.

To learn more about Leslie’s Healing Garden or the Healing Arts Program at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, visit BuffettCancerCenter.com.