We believe that experiencing visual art, literary arts, and music can be therapeutic and contribute to a person's sense of well-being. Our Creative Arts Program offers one-on-one experiences for patients in the hospital, infusion suites, and waiting areas with our visual artist, literary artist and therapeutic harpist.
To schedule a visit from one of our Creative Arts Specialists, please call or email the Creative Arts Program. Although our staff is only available for limited hours, we will do our best to accommodate your request.
The Creative Arts Program is a collaboration between the Arts and Humanities Program, Dartmouth Cancer Center Support Services and the Palliative Care Program, and is supported through philanthropy. If you are interested in supporting the creative arts program please contact us or donate online to the Arts and Humanities Program.
Telling Our Stories Through Word and Image event
Telling Our Stories Through Word and Image showcases the creative writing and visual art done by cancer patients and their families. View our 2023 Anthology digital flipbook.
From the Heart: A Collection of Writing and Art
Inspired by the mask project used with U.S. military veterans, From The Heart: A Collection of Writing and Art (PDF) was created with behavioral health patients over one week. It was later showcased in the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) rotunda display cases.
Visual artist
Kim Wenger Hall is the visual artist with our Creative Arts Program. Working one-on-one with inpatients and in outpatient groups, Kim helps artists and non-artists alike explore their creative expression through drawing, painting, and a wide variety of mixed media. Whether facilitating a casual, artsy way to while away the time, or assisting with creating a lasting keepsake, Kim strives to provide an uplifting, accessible, and light-hearted experience for patients. We keep a nice variety of arts and crafts supplies on hand to choose from. No previous art experience is necessary.
Art Outlet Workshops for cancer patients and their families
An opportunity to ‘plug in’ to your creative side, the Art Outlet offers a chance to commune with other creatives and, most importantly, have fun! Bring along a project you are working on or start a new one with supplies provided. Registration required. No art experience is needed. For all persons with a current or previous cancer diagnosis and their loved ones.
Workshops take place on Friday afternoons, 2:00 to 4:00 pm. See Dartmouth Cancer Center's Patients and Families events calendar for dates.
Literary artist
A journal helps clear the path through a difficult time. A good book is great company. A letter dissolves distance. A story lifts the spirits of the listener. Memories, transcribed, become legacy. Creative writer Marjorie Gellhorn Sa’adah is available to patients and their supporters throughout Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the Dartmouth Cancer Center for individual and family meetings, and writing groups. Marjorie provides compassionate listening, transcription, reading aloud, tailored writing prompts, tools, teaching and support to explore and enjoy the literary arts.
Therapeutic harpist
Certified Harp Practitioner Margaret Stephens uses music—melody, rhythm, tones, harmony—to meet the physical, mental and emotional needs of patients and their families at the bedside and in outpatient areas of the Cancer Center. While playing her 23-string harp, Margaret creates a "cradle of sound" to support the individual's journey of healing, wholeness and growth.
A Certified Harp Practitioner is a trained, therapeutic musician who uses the harp to aid the healing process of body, mind, and spirit. The music practitioner observes, intuits, and listens to the client's needs, then chooses musical styles, tempos, rhythms, modes, and melodies that are appropriate to meeting those needs. The goal is to create a "sound space" or a "cradle of sound" to support the listener in his or her journey of healing.