After years of donating her talent to both the old and new hospital, one Fort resident is being comforted by the beauty she worked so hard to create.
Anne Stang, 84, is currently being treated for pancreatic cancer at the Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital, and while the reason for her stay is a painful one, she is taking comfort from being able to see the artwork she has worked so hard to produce, as they adorn the hospital’s walls.
It has been a long journey to get paintings in the new hospital, Stang said — one that began when she was looking to spruce up the walls of the old hospital.
“The old hospital was an old building. It was kind of raggedy,” she said.
“I tried to get some people to put art up there, but they weren’t interested in doing that, so I went up and got my pictures put up.”
For roughly 35 years, Stang has been painting in various disciplines to help make hospital walls a little more cheery.
It is something she said has been close to her heart, as creating art is about more than painting on a canvas, but helping those in need.
“To me, art is an important part of the personal experience,” she said.
“I find beauty in all kinds of art. I think art is the beauty of making a loaf of bread for the lady who has four kids down the street. It’s a spiritual thing. Art is spiritual.”
Stang said that when she first came to the hospital, she was given only a few months to live. While she has already exceeded that mark, what she said is even more positive is the way that she currently feels.
“I was diagnosed a year ago. They thought that I probably had four to six months to live,” she said.
“And I said, ‘Let’s make it a year.’ Well a year is well passed and I’m still here and I feel great.”
The work she has done, and being able to see it as she passes through the hospital, has been a constant source of comfort for Stang,
“I’ve only got one painting hanging up,” she said.
“It gives me a lift.”
Stang has gathered various local artists to help fill the hospital with paintings, and while not all the artwork has made it to the new hospital’s walls, Stang is expecting that eventually there will be over 30 locally-produced pieces of art in the new Fort Hospital.