Lilly Oncology, NCCS to launch 2012 art competition and exhibition

Get your canvases, paintbrushes and cameras ready -- the subject is cancer and you are the storyteller. Lilly Oncology and the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) today announced the launch of the 2012 Lilly Oncology On Canvas: Expressions of a Cancer Journey Art Competition and Exhibition. The biennial competition invites individuals from the United States and Puerto Rico, who were diagnosed with any type of cancer -- as well as their families, friends, caregivers and healthcare providers -- to express, through art and narrative, the life-affirming changes that give their cancer journeys meaning. Entries must be postmarked by June 29, 2012. 

Oncology On Canvas^SM was launched in 2004 by Lilly Oncology to help those affected by cancer cope with the emotional side of the disease. Winners' prizes consist of donations made to the cancer charities of their choice. Following the competition, much of the artwork embarks on a tour of cancer centers, hospitals and patient advocacy group events.

Since its inception, Lilly Oncology On Canvas has received more than 3,600 entries. However, these 3,600 stories are but a few of the many waiting to be told by the nearly 12 million cancer survivors alive today in the U.S. alone-- in addition to millions of others who love and care for them, according to Newt Crenshaw, vice president, Lilly Oncology.

"If you or someone you care for has heard the three words, "You have cancer," then you know firsthand that a cancer diagnosis can change the lives of patients and everyone around them," said Crenshaw. "Lilly Oncology On Canvas has become an important way for cancer patients, oncologists, oncology nurses and so many others to share their stories of hope and despair, loss and survival, and countless other emotions." 

"We are whole people, comprised of biological, spiritual, emotional and psychological parts," said Richard Payne, M.D., NCCS Chair, and an internationally known expert in the areas of pain relief, care for those near death, oncology and neurology. "Oncology On Canvas recognizes this fact by providing anyone affected by cancer with a platform to express often unspoken emotions, resulting in artwork that moves and inspires."