Portland, Ore.

The painting shows a woman -where her right breast should be is a scar line with a single pink rose growing out of the scar. The painting, "Cancer, Unexpected Strength/Health, A Hidden Treasure," is the work of a cancer survivor.  

It is one of about 40 paintings, photographs and sketches from the Lilly "Oncology on Canvas: Expressions of a Woman's Cancer Journey" traveling art exhibit hosted by the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute. This exhibit featuring works from artists around the world will be on display through December in the lobby of the new OHSU Center for Health & Healing (CHH) on the South Waterfront.  

All of the works are about the journey that is cancer. The artwork has been created by patients, caregivers and family members of those with cancer. 

 "Oncology on Canvas" was conceived by Eli Lilly and Company as a way to honor the journey that begins with the diagnosis of cancer. "The art is a way to raise awareness of the benefits of art therapy as a powerful therapeutic tool as women express their emotional voices as a means of coping with cancer," according to the company literature about the event.  

The OHSU Cancer Institute is expanding from the Marquam Hill Campus to the seventh, 14th and 15th floors of the new Center for Health & Healing. Six prominent cancer researchers will have 10,000 square feet of laboratory space on the 14th floor. The six new research teams have the potential to add more than $8 million in funding over five years to the growing portfolio of research at the OHSU Cancer Institute. 

Complementing the research on the upper floors, Multidisciplinary Clinics such as prostate and breast cancer programs and the OHSU Cancer Institute Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program (AYA) are on the seventh floor. The 15th floor houses the OHSU Cancer Institute clinical research management team.