Art Class Provides Medium for Seriously Ill to Overcome Despair : Threat of Death Accelerates Their Creativity

It has been two years since the last time Trisha Tierce-Madera tried to kill herself. Standing over a large, watery blue heart she has painted with a jagged brown and black crack through it, she credits a special course of free art classes with helping “center” her in the face of a chronic manic-depressive disorder.

For John Blue, art did not rank as a great interest until he contracted a terminal illness. Found to be suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome two years ago, Blue has created a new career for himself in art. Using an ancient Japanese recipe, he makes his own paper, which he designs, decorates and markets as greeting cards.

For Blue, Tierce-Madera and dozens of others living with life-threatening diseases, a special class, “Living Through Art,” offers a safe haven and mutual support, a creative outlet and means for expressing their emotions.

“We share and inspire each other through our illness,” Blue said. “It gives us a common bond. I’d never been in an art class. It puts you in touch with other people who have never been in an art class before.”

The first thing a visitor notices about this free class is the tone. It’s not morbid.

“We feel it’s extremely successful,” said Dick Greene, who teaches one of the classes. “We grade ourselves in how our students respond. For many, it tends to be a bright spot in the week. It’s something positive, a place they can go to laugh, even laugh at their disease.”

The class, which is taught Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Metropolitan Community Church in North Park, was started about five years ago by Barbara Peabody in her home. Peabody, who wrote the book, “The Screaming Room: A Mother’s Journal of Her Son’s Struggle with AIDS,” teaches the 11 a.m.-2 p.m. class Tuesdays. Greene teaches the Thursday session.

The teachers receive a nominal salary, but money for materials is either donated or raised through special events. The Metropolitan Community Church donates the space.

Inspired by the success of the daytime classes, Greene, an architect and artist, is launching a similar free nighttime class, “Art for Life,” Wednesdays from 6 to 9, starting this week at the Truax House, 2513 Union St. Besides those directly afflicted with a disease, he is inviting people who are involved with anyone who in any way has a life-threatening disease. No art experience is required.

On a rainy day last week, only about a dozen class members came to work at the tables in the drafty, unheated hall. Although mobiles were the subject of the day, the class was basically unstructured. Students did whatever they wanted. In fact, some who have recently been in the hospital just came to hang out and talk.

“The focus is art and feeling rather than disease and dying,” said Ron Brown. “I look forward to coming. There’s an electricity in the room. I thrive on it.”

Brown, a professional artist, heard about the class two years ago when he was found to have AIDS. He first came here eight months ago because “I thought I might learn something. My work has changed a lot. I’m able to get out the anger on the canvas. I wasn’t able to in the studio.”

Few of the students have Brown’s skills, although some, like Tim Grummon, have discovered unknown talent. But, regardless of their skills, students find that the class offers a value that sometimes is captured in the artwork.

“We heal each other,” Tierce-Madera said. “We share good times and bad times. We exchange phone numbers when we need to talk.”

Greene, 56, was moved to offer his assistance as a teacher when a family member with a deteriorating condition was placed in a retirement home.

“As hokey as it sounds, all of us are given talents,” he said. “If we don’t use them for humanity, it’s not fair. It’s just not right.”

Greene and the students know that they don’t have all the time in the world, so he takes short cuts.

“I teach a quick way to draw,” Greene said. “It’s the reverse of the way art is taught, where students first must learn to draw a vase or a flower precisely.”

He starts the students with free-form painting, encouraging them to use whatever colors and abstract designs they prefer. For a realistic painting like a city street scene, Greene projects slides on the wall so a painter can put the canvas up and sketch in outlines and perspective, a skill that normally take months or years of study.

“Some people say that’s breaking the rules of art,” Greene said, “but once again, they don’t have time. They realize they’re facing the end of their life and they must accelerate everything. It’s fascinating to see how they jam as much as they can into the rest of their lives, whether it’s a week, or five weeks or a year.”

Blue, who brought in scores of his handmade, colorful, cellophane-wrapped cards, has been in the class six months. Basically an optimist, he acknowledges that AIDS has limited his future. But it is not Blue’s nature to be daunted. Working away at a miniature elephant sculpture, he said, “I think if they ever find a cure for this before anything happens to me, I may have a new career.”