Healing Ceilings at West Raleigh Presbyterian

I was not granted the gift of creativity, so I am always in awe when I come across ideas like that of Healing Ceilings.

This month at West Raleigh Presbyterian Church the walls and ceilings of an otherwise standard meeting space are covered in painted ceiling tiles. These tiles will eventually be placed in cancer centers across North Carolina to give patients undergoing treatment and tests a cheerful place to focus. The Arts Ministry at West Raleigh invited church members and the community to participate in the project known as Healing Ceilings.

Amy Jo Edwards founded Healing Ceilings as her husband underwent chemotherapy in 2013. She was tired of looking at the uninspiring ceiling. She talked with four-time cancer survivor, friend, and artist, Dawn Bell and learned that Bell had removed and painted the ceiling tiles in her own hospital room. Healing Ceilings was formed.

West Raleigh’s exhibit includes more than 50 painted tiles with artists ranging from 10 years old to 80 years old. The exhibit runs through September 5 in West Raleigh’s Voice of the Spirit Gallery, after which the tiles become part of cancer centers across North Carolina.

The ceiling tiles are more than artwork though. They represent hope and love. I do not need the gift of creativity to see the hope and love that fill the space of each ceiling tile at West Raleigh Presbyterian.