Living with and battling cancer can often leave many feelings bottled inside of patients. But because a window of creativity has been opened, those feelings are now being expressed at Sanford's Oncology Clinic. 

Many patients at Sanford's Oncology Clinic spend many days in this room, hours at a time getting chemotherapy or infusions. And now their minds and hands aren't idle; they're using art to heal. 

Forty-two-year-old Keri Wallenstein began chemotherapy in August. Every 21 days she sits for hours at a time, 3 days in row receiving treatments to shrink her tumors. 

Wallenstein says, “It is boring after...you know you can only sit in a reclining chair and stare at the walls and look at all the people for so long before it’s really boring.” 

But that boredom is fading. This week she turned to clay to pass her time. 

Wallenstein says, “It's amazing what you can find out of a piece of clay. You can roll it up into a ball and then squish it in different directions and it just gives you an idea of what to do with it...something different.” 

Through Sanford's Journey of Healing in the Arts Program, sculptor Darwin Wolf has introduced sculpting to many of the patients here at the Oncology Clinic. But Wolf says spending time with patients isn't just about bringing out their creative sides. 

Wolf says, “It’s a lot more interesting and a lot more enjoyable to sit and sometimes not even sculpt and just talk.” 

Wolf, known for his beautiful bronze sculptures, says sculpting a rose for Wallenstein's daughter can be more therapeutic than creating a masterpiece. 

And listening to her laugh and hearing her stories may be the best part. 

Wolf says, “Working one-on-one has really been fantastic. Learning people’s stories and hearing how they're dealing with things.” 

The Journey of Healing in the Arts program has also introduced other forms of art to patients. Like many at the oncology clinic, Wallenstein may not have known she was an artist. But through her journey of healing and battling cancer, she's learning there isn't much she can't do. 

Wallenstein says, “It gives you something else to think about. You know it gives you new ways to look at things.”