Expressions of Courage Survivor Celebration

Join us for a celebration of survivorship. Expressions of Courage survivor celebration will be held in the Longship Club at Kroger Field on the University of Kentucky Campus, Friday, May 31, 2024 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Markey patients, together with their support groups and caregivers, will be joined by Markey faculty and staff to mark yet another milestone in their cancer battles. 

Expressions of Courage Celebration

We look forward to celebrating National Cancer Survivors Day with you!

eoc logoThis event is dear to the hearts of our Markey team, and many will be at the event to greet, guide and celebrate you throughout the day. The Expressions of Courage event was created as a way for cancer survivors to encourage one another by sharing their cancer stories. All cancer survivors, regardless of their stage of treatment, are invited to attend with one guest.

We also invite you to share an original piece of art that best represents you and your cancer experience, but you do not have to submit artwork to attend.

Highlights of this year’s event

  • Lunch will be provided.
  • Be inspired by our guest speaker, Emily McDowell.
  • Add words of encouragement to the memorial wall.
  • Learn from the panel of healthy living advisors.
  • Take photos in the photo booth.
  • Enjoy musical performances.
  • Admire the art gallery of submissions from attendees and their loved ones.

Guest Speaker

emily mcdowell

 

Emily McDowell is a Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor, writer, illustrator and the founder of the stationery brand Em & Friends.

In 2015, she created Empathy Cards, a more supportive and honest alternative to traditional sympathy cards. The company became a global news story and inspired a sea change in the stationery industry. Emily is also the co-author and illustrator of the book, “There Is No Good Card for This: What to Say and Do When Life Gets Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love.”

Em & Friends was acquired in 2022, and Emily now works as an adviser, consultant, teacher and speaker.

Living Proof Gallery

Help us turn the Longship Club into a “healing art gallery.” We invite you to share a piece of art that best represents you and your experience. This art can take any form, such as sculpture, poetry or painting.

If your art is a physical piece, it can be dropped off any weekday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Markey Cancer Administration office on the first floor of UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital, Pavilion H, 800 Rose St. No artwork will be accepted after May 24, 2024.

Also, please send a title and short statement (no more than 250 words) that can accompany your piece to Emmy Hammons at e.hammons@uky.edu.

Event details

Who: Cancer survivors, patients and caregivers.
What: A National Cancer Survivors Day®  event to celebrate your or a loved one’s journey through cancer survivorship.
When: Friday, May 31, 2024 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: The Longship Club at Kroger Field*, 1540 University Drive, on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington.

*On-site parking is available; attendees can park in the Blue Lot.

Attendees should enter the stadium through the Commonwealth Tower Premium Lobby between Gates 10 and 11 and take the elevators to the club on Mezzanine Level.

Event Registration

If you have questions, please email markey.survivorship@uky.edu or call Robin Fisher, Markey Cancer Center, Clinical Affairs at 859-323-8501

 

 

Register here

Follow the link below to register for the 2024 Expressions of Courage event.
Register Now

Please be aware:

There will be paperwork for you to sign when you arrive. These include HIPAA, photo and intellectual property releases. You are asked to fill out the forms because we will be taking pictures during the event and hope to share them with the community. If you would like to review these forms prior to the event, follow the link to download the forms.

Forms and releases

Follow the link below to download the HIPAA, photo and intellectual property releases.
Download forms

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Cancer struggles can bring about powerful emotions, and patients convey their feelings in varied, personal ways. Expressions of Courage is designed as a showcase for those feelings, a celebration of both human creativity and the human spirit. Please note that this occasion is for all survivors. You need not contribute art to participate. Members of the Healthy Living Panel are also available to further enhance the recovery process. June is Cancer Survivorship Month and thus a good time for this annual gathering. 

Dress casual and comfortable. If you have an Expressions of Courage T-shirt from a previous year’s event, feel free to show it off.

We invite you to share a piece of art that best represents you and your cancer experience. It may be newly created or something you made during your cancer journey. You may submit a quilt, painting, carving, poem, or other piece. While we encourage creativity, space is limited, so if there is another form of art you wish to submit (readings, dance, etc.), please contact us to see if arrangements can be made.

If your art is a physical piece, it can be dropped off at the Markey Cancer Center in the lobby of the Combs Research Building.

The art will be on display throughout the event, so we ask you to send a title and short statement (no more than 250 words) that can accompany your piece to e.hammons@uky.edu.

If you have a large piece, cannot drop off your art at the times above or need assistance, please call 859-323-8501 to make arrangements so a Markey representative can meet you outside the Markey Cancer Center.

This will be a rain-or-shine event, as the Longship Club is inside at Kroger Field.

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Expressions of Courage 2022
NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center - A Cancer Center Designated by the National Cancer Institute

Markey Cancer Center is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center – a distinction that recognizes our commitment to accelerating precision cancer research and care to patients. We are the first and only NCI-Comprehensive Cancer Center in Kentucky, and one of 56 in the nation.

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