Photography by Beth Gruver
When local artist Carolyn Lewis was asked in November if she wanted to paint a door that would be part of "42 Doors of Hope" she said yes without hesitation. The art initiative, which is displaying painted doors throughout St. Louis to symbolize cancer patients' journeys, is raising money for the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, which provides free rooms for families traveling to St. Louis for cancer treatments. “There was absolutely no way I was going to say no,” Lewis says. “This was personal for me.”
Lewis began her career as an art therapist working specifically with cancer patients. In a way, this project felt like coming home. Driven by her personal connection to the meaning behind the project, Lewis didn’t even really consider the fact that her work is typically smaller in scale. Or that she’s never painted on the steel material of a hospital-grade door (the number 42 in the project represents the number of guest suites at the new facility). Or that she’s never had to create something that would withstand outdoor elements. “I had no idea what I was doing, so I had to do a lot of research,” she says.
But she did know what she wanted to paint. For the past year, Lewis has been creating “empowerment birds” with paint, fabric, and old dictionary pages. The painted birds are colorful and quirky with striped legs and red shoes. Lewis carefully selects dictionary entries for uplifting words for the wings: wonder, give, inspire, light, evolve, and spiritual are just a few that she’s used. “I knew I was going to do a piece that was in memory and in honor of some of the people I had worked with in my art therapy days,” Lewis says.
For her door, Lewis picked the words joy, bravery, and resilience because they were words sent to her by the mom of one of her former patients. Kira was a spunky, kind-hearted, creative 12-year-old with whom Lewis developed a fast friendship. She passed away in 2006 from a brain tumor, but Lewis has maintained a relationship with her mom. “We keep Kira’s spirit alive by sharing funny stories,” she says.
Lewis begins each piece she creates by writing her intention for the project. Concealed under the layers of paint in black Sharpie marker is a dedication of sorts to Kira, her mom, and all the “brave kids and the resilient parents walking the cancer journey.”
Then she adds the paint. For this project, there are layers. Lewis wanted to create texture with the paint, so that viewers could touch it and run their fingers over the names of people—Kira and others—she included in the piece. “I wanted it to be very textual because I wanted people to engage with it. Just the act of rubbing your hands over somebody’s name connects you to them and their story.”
Lewis says the hardest part of the entire process is keeping the project a secret. She finished her door in February, and they were initially scheduled to be displayed in March. Because of COVID-19, that date was pushed back until July.
The day Lewis’ door was installed in front of Keller Apothecary in Southampton ended up being the day before what would have been Kira’s 27th birthday. “It could not have been a better day. I was able to call her mom and tell her about the piece,” Lewis says. “It was so powerful.”
You can find an online map of the doors here so you can plan your route to visit them all. Donations are appreciated and will be used to make Hope Lodge free for cancer patients.
