Cancer Patients Experience Top Notch Art Lesson at Museum of Los Gatos

The following was submitted for publication on behalf of Kids & Art:

Sunday, Oct. 12, The Museums of Los Gatos hosted an event with well known artist Brendan Murphy.

“I had the good fortune to host a workshop for the Kids and Art charity and 20 children with different forms and stages of cancer,” said Murphy of the event he lead. “Needless to say it was a humbling and inspirational experience.

“The level of presence and attentiveness shown by each child was amazing. Each child displayed an overall awareness of time and how important and valuable it is… Something that generally gets lost on all of us, and a luxury that a child should be allowed to have. These kids don’t. So they deal with it with politeness, kindness and big smiles. It’s breathtaking to work with them.”

The Bay Area children at the event were referred by Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, offering these kids a chance to be kids, and to work together making art with an amazing artist. Later the art will be auctioned off to raise money for more workshops for kids touched by cancer, and for cures.

‘The Magic Garden’ piece Brendan used as an inspiration for the workshop is shown above.

Many of the kids made flowers, but each canvas was unique. Although the artist and directions were the same, the creativity was abundant.

“Brendan taught me how to make my flowers pop,” 12-year-old Chloe said. “My sister Maya and I don’t get a chance to do things together often because of my treatment. This is the first time we’ve worked together painting.”

The 10-year-old and 12-year-old held hands on and off throughout the workshop, and Chloe chose “Dandelion” to auction off “to raise money for kids who have cancer, like me.”

Murphy said he discovered his talent years ago in Europe.

“Whenever I was painting – no matter what else was going on – I was happy.”

Similarly, Purvi Shah, founder of Kids & Art, noted her own son Amaey was “happiest” when he was creating art while going through his cancer treatment. Shah founded the national non-profit dedicated to bringing monthly art workshops for kids touched by cancer (whether the child themself, a sibling, care-taker, or son or daughter of someone going through treatment) to empower them with their own creativity. Shah hopes to give them a chance to escape the “chaos” many parents and grandparents have noted goes hand in hand with families going through cancer treatment, and gives them the ability to give back hope while going though a period of difficulty beyond the comprehension of most other children their age.

Although Murphy is world recognized and has painted portraits for some of the world’s best professional athletes, and worked with celebrities such as Will Ferrell and Kevin Spacey, Murphy says of Shah: “Purvi was just as inspiring, having lost her own boy to cancer , she has dedicated her life to sharing the creative process with other children touched by cancer and their families.”

At the event, Murphy also shared how his own mother was going through treatment for bone cancer.

“Don’t we all know someone who is going through it or has gone through it?” he said when asked if this was a good reason to contribute to charities such as Purvi’s.


When she founded Kids & Art, Shah started offering kids touched by cancer creative outlets by organizing activities with local artists at local venues. Ceramics, mask making, acrylic painting, Lego sculptures and other forms of art are produced and then auctioned off annually to raise money for future workshops and cures for cancers by giving the proceeds to such organizations as the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

In the past, workshops have been held at Google, Pixar, Dreamworks and most recently at The Museums of Los Gatos.

Bay Area companies and facilities donate their space and sometimes supplies, to make the non-profit cost-effective, and artists like Murphy donate their time, to make each workshop a special event in each child’s life.

Shah wants to see families through treatment, remission and in some cases bereavement, bringing them a sense of peace throughout the process. For information about Kids & Art check out: http://www.kidsandart.org