South Santiam Hall Gallery Show “Painting My Way Through Cancer” Opens Jan. 9 - Features Salem Painter as She Explores Her Recovery from Cancer

LBCC SSH Gallery Show “Painting My Way Through Cancer” Opens Jan. 9
Salem Painter Explores Her Recovery from Cancer

“Painting My Way Through Cancer,” an exhibit by Salem artist Susan Trueblood Stuart, will be on view Jan. 9 through Feb. 10 in the South Santiam Hall Gallery at Linn-Benton Community College, 6500 Pacific Blvd SW, Albany, Oregon.

A public reception for the artist will be held Thursday, Jan. 19, from 2 to 3 p.m. in the gallery.

The artist is exhibiting a collection of about 20 paintings made over the past four years that reflect the anguish, pain and perseverance she experienced during her battle against cancer.

Trueblood Stuart was diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 2007 and has undergone several surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment since then. While the cancer is currently in remission, she continues to receive treatment to rebuild and strengthen her jaw, which was ravaged by the disease.

“This series depicts that which I felt before and after surgery,” she said. “The painful and devastating and permanent effects of radiation, and my will to live.”

Trueblood Stuart has been a well-known member of the Salem art scene for several years, recognized primarily for her striking landscapes. In 1969 she was accepted in the Portland Art Museum’s Oregon Biennial, a particularly prestigious honor for a young artist, and has since held solo exhibits at Willamette University, Lewis & Clark College, the Governor’s Ceremonial Office, as well as out of state galleries.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Willamette and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Oregon.

The SSH Gallery at LBCC is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.