Cancer Patients' Art Featured at SFMOMA in Groundbreaking Exhibition

The 'Art for Recovery' show marks the first time a major museum has displayed artwork created by cancer patients during treatment.

Published on Feb. 9, 2026

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The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is hosting an exhibition titled 'Art for Recovery' that features 30 works created by cancer patients during their treatment. The exhibition, which runs through the spring, is the first time a major metropolitan museum has showcased art made by artist-patients. The artworks, which include paintings, drawings, and collages, offer a powerful and emotional expression of the cancer experience.

Why it matters

For cancer patients who often feel silenced or misunderstood, having a platform to share their artistic expressions is deeply meaningful. The exhibition highlights the healing power of art and provides a space for cancer patients to be seen and heard. It also aims to challenge common platitudes about 'getting better soon' and instead celebrates the resilience and growth that can emerge from facing darkness.

The details

The exhibition features works by two artists, Eva Del Campo and Wei-Pei Cherng, who were both diagnosed with breast cancer. Their paintings, such as 'Spewing Roses' and 'Scanxiety,' directly convey the emotional intensity of their experiences. The show also includes works by other artist-patients like Sylvia Parisotto and Allison Leeds, who found community and a means of expression through the Art for Recovery program at the University of California, San Francisco.

  • The 'Art for Recovery' exhibition is on view at SFMOMA through the spring of 2026.
  • The exhibition coincides with Creative Arts Therapies Week, observed nationally in the third week of March, which highlights the role of art, music, and other expressive practices in healing.

The players

Art for Recovery

An art therapy program at the University of California, San Francisco that offers art, music, and writing workshops for cancer patients, led by an artist-in-residence both in person and online.

Amy van Cleve

The director of the Art for Recovery program, who pitched the exhibition to SFMOMA two years ago, believing that the patients' powerful messages about resilience and hope needed to be shared with the world.

SFMOMA

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which is hosting the 'Art for Recovery' exhibition, marking the first time a major metropolitan museum has showcased artwork created by cancer patients during their treatment.

Océane Qiu

The program manager for marketing, communications, and visitor experience at SFMOMA, who oversees the museum's Steps Coffee Community Art Show program, which aims to connect with local organizations and empower their voices.

Allison Leeds

An artist-patient whose collage work, 'The Healing Spectrum,' is featured in the exhibition, exploring her emotional journey through cancer treatment.

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What they’re saying

“I grew up suppressing negative emotions. During breast cancer treatment, that silence hindered my healing.”

— Wei-Pei Cherng (sfchronicle.com)

“Our patients are, in a way, professionals at facing the darkness ... they have a really powerful message that I think the world needs to hear.”

— Amy van Cleve, Director, Art for Recovery (sfchronicle.com)

“There's this group of people that just automatically understands you. It's just pure acceptance. That, I think, allowed me to feel more freely my feelings.”

— Sylvia Parisotto, Artist-patient (sfchronicle.com)

What’s next

The 'Art for Recovery' exhibition at SFMOMA will be on display through the spring of 2026.

The takeaway

This groundbreaking exhibition at SFMOMA showcases the powerful and emotional artworks created by cancer patients, giving them a platform to be seen and heard. It highlights the healing power of art and the resilience that can emerge from facing the darkness of illness, inspiring hope and challenging common misconceptions about the cancer experience.