South Fayette art students work on kindness project for cancer patients
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Veena Sivakumar works on her work of art, “Choose Kindness.”
Selva Priya with "The Henna Crown"
Sathwik Nagavelli, left, and Lakshmi Sragvi start work on their projects.
Showing their finished works of art are, from left, Daniel Jerome, Karthikeya Vattem, Megha Magudamudi, Srihitha Vulupala, Rhea Yadav, Anika Acharya, Smrithi Sudhir, Ishi Gupta and Radhika Amit.
The finished product is on display at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
Selva Priya provides encouragement for her students, including Siyona Pandey.
Kavya Yuvaraj starts her project, with encouragement from Meghana Kolli, left.
Oviya Yuvaraj begins to work on her project.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Adith Loveson uses an image from his smartphone to adapt to his project.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Lakshmi Sragvi applies paint to her brush.
Mithra Senthilkumar gets ready to work on her project.
Pranav Rajmohan gets going on his painting.
Sahana Raja concentrates on painting.
Shanthi Priya Naga paints beside Sana Motlakunta, her daughter.
Selva Priya puts paint in a palette for Zoe Sai.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Ducks figure prominently in this work of art.
Patients at the UPMC-Hillman Cancer Center will have a brighter Valentine’s Day, thanks to youngsters in South Fayette Township.
Students at Priya Arts have created heart-shaped messages of kindness to be made into an 8-by-8-foot banner for presentation to the facility in Shadyside.
“When I proposed the idea to the cancer center director and the organization, they were super excited that we are doing this, and they right away said they want to display it permanently,” studio owner Selva Priya said. “They have been practicing for a month to make their hearts today. I told them our theme was going to be kindness, so they came up with unique ideas.”
Examples include such creative notions as a girl sheltering a frog with an umbrella, youngsters offering treats to their pets and Mother Teresa ministering to children.
Contributing to the projects are 35 students ages 5 to 14. Many of them accompanied Priya when she delivered the banner to the center Feb. 13.
She also is presenting one of her own paintings, which she calls “The Henna Crown,” depicting a woman with tattoos covering her bowed head as a symbol of the hair loss that many cancer patients must face.
“I thought I should give them something that represents beauty and courage,” she said.
As is the case with practically everyone, she has friends who have battled cancer, including one whose treatment did result in her losing her hair.
“I was with her throughout her journey,” Priya said. “She had to take chemotherapy for six months, and every day, she used to send me her picture.”
The kindness project is part of her efforts to reach out into the community. In December, her students made special creations for holidays, including Christmas cards for senior citizens, and she has plans for similar efforts as the year progresses.
In the meantime, she wants to do what she can for cancer patients.
“We can’t do anything about the disease or the intensity, but we can help them recover, be with them and support them,” she said. “If these kids’ artwork makes at least one patient smile, we all are winners.”