Tracy's Kids

11/21/2025

This Thanksgiving we remember Caroline, and have her parents and big sister in our thoughts. Her parents say that the 4th floor Art Therapy room at Children’s National Hospital always brightened the three year old's day and was pivotal in keeping the bright and silly girl entertained and happy. It was where she could "be a normal kid."

We know she will have an enduring impact on the lives of those she loved, and who loved her.

09/24/2025

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/548987/art-therapy-helps-pediatric-hematology-and-oncology-patients-navigate-their-treatment

An art exhibit is now on display at Walter Reed in the America Building’s fourth-floor hallway of the Pediatrics Department. The exhibit celebrates Walter Reed’s young cancer survivors.

09/23/2025

The Tracy's Kids program at the The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine is hosting an art exhibit in celebration of Childhood Cancer Awareness month at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Artists ranging in age from 5 years to adults, including patients, family members and medical staff, created work in response to the theme of resilience. The work is displayed in the bustling outpatient clinic area, where patients and visitors can enjoy it. Some of the pieces are painted on ceiling tiles that will become part of the clinic ceiling after the show, so that patient artwork can continue to enhance the treatment environment. Please enjoy the gallery below!

05/27/2025

Six-year old Sophia spent the afternoon drawing on the windows at Methodist Children's Hospital. What a view for a young artist, right?

05/04/2025

Yesterday was the seventh annual Derby Day fundraiser for Tracy’s Kids, hosted by the Knights of Columbus Arlington Council 2473. It was a grand success and tons of fun, with proceeds dedicated to the Tracy’s Kids program at Children’s National Hospital. I got to meet an adorable miniature horse but the best part was seeing several former Tracy’s Kids participants, patients and siblings, now tall young men who remember happy hours at the art table not so very long ago! They also featured art by a current patient whose beautiful and expressive paintings help him get through long hours in the hospital. Thank-you to all the Knights and their friends for supporting the work of Tracy’s Kids!

04/28/2025

Tracy’s Kids was honored to receive an award at a Kids for Kids Fund Celebration earlier this month. Through the school service clubs, kids learn about local nonprofits and award money to support the mission of one charity each year. This was a very special event for us, as we were represented by a Tracy’s Kids participant who was able to share her experiences!

04/09/2025

01/14/2025

I wanted to share my thoughts on the big announcement, that Tracy's Kids is winding down.

The Board of Directors of Tracy’s Kids has come to the decision that we must wind down our operations over the next 18 months. Our President, Matt Gerson, began supporting my work at Georgetown in 1998, and our partnership grew into Tracy’s Kids. We have awarded over $9 million in funding for art therapy programs and served over 100,000 patients, siblings, parents and caregivers in our 26 years of working together. We will be able to fully support the existing Tracy’s Kids programs in 2025, but we do not expect to continue at full strength in 2026.

For more than 30 years, I was the art therapist in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital's Lombardi Cancer Center. As I have said many times, it was the best job in the world. Every day I got to see the healing power of creativity in action: smiling kids working away at the art table while powerful chemo dripped into their veins; kids who felt sad and diminished by debilitating and isolating medical conditions working together on incredible group art pieces. I met families during the worst days of their lives and helped them find strength, hope, and even joy in the community that formed around the art table in the clinic.

I have been proud of the way Tracy’s Kids grew from one hospital to a multi-site program. Each Tracy’s Kids program was grounded in the power of creativity, the freedom of the open studio model, and the skills of the profession of art therapy. The Tracy’s Kids art therapists facilitate the creative process in
ways that help kids process medical trauma, build self-esteem, and develop strategies to cope with medical and mental health challenges. It takes a special combination of art and interpersonal skills, and a spirit of hope and adventure to enter into this work. As early as the mid-1990’s, we were training art
therapy interns to carry the work forward. Dozens of accomplished professionals were once Tracy’s Kids interns. We’ve even had patients grow up to become art therapists because they wanted to help others like we once helped them!

In recent years, care providers at our hospitals have told us they now consider art therapy to be part of the standard of care in pediatric oncology. We have partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts and Drexel University to conduct research designed to measure the impact of art therapy on patients and their families, adding scientific data to the positive outcomes we see with patients every day.

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to support so many wonderful young people and their families. From them I have learned to treasure every day, and to follow where my creativity leads. I am glad that our partner hospitals plan to carry the work forward. It is heartening to know the legacy of Tracy’s Kids will still be found at their hospital art tables and in the good memories the kids and families we have served will carry into the future.
Love,
Tracy

01/13/2025

On New Year's Eve I received the following note from a Mom with a child being treated at Children's National Hospital --

“Your program has fully changed our son’s cancer treatment experience. We wouldn’t have made it through without the art therapy program.”

Messages like that have put a smile on my face since 1998 when Tracy's Kids first started helping children and families cope with the emotional toll imposed by the disease and its treatment. It has helped motivate us to award over $9 million in Art Therapy programming, and work with over 100,000 patients, their siblings, parents and caregivers.

Tracy's Kids will wind down its operations over the next 18 months. While the decision was difficult and emotional, Tracy, the Board, and I take great pride in what we and our gifted team of Art Therapists have accomplished. There is no question that our decades-long focus has helped change the standard of care given to children battling cancers and blood disorders. We are delighted that our vision will continue — the treatment centers that TK has partnered with now see art therapy as an essential component of the care they provide. They are each committed to finding alternative funding for this outlet so children can continue to process their emotions, build psychological resilience, and have some well-deserved fun.

I know very well that we would not have made the impact we have without friends like you. Over the last 26 years, so, so many people said "yes" every time we asked for support, and I deeply appreciate that you trusted us to accomplish our goals. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Throughout 2025 we will continue to underwrite Art Therapy programs at Children's National Hospital in D.C., Methodist Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, New York Presbyterian, Children’s Hospital at Sinai, Baltimore, and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. In 2026, any remaining funds -- including contributions we may receive this year and in the future -- will be given to sustain Children's National’s Art Therapy program.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

With sincere gratitude,

Matt

01/03/2025

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/interactive-dreidel-baltimore-sinai-hospital-hanukkah/63312480

A giant dreidel splashed with bright, colorful paint is catching eyes and turning heads at Sinai Hospital.

12/27/2024

https://conta.cc/4iJLU2i

Email from Tracy's Kids We hope you and your family will be someplace fun for the holidays and that you have a happy, healthy and safe 2025. To Contribute Online There's Still Time to Make a 2024 Con

12/03/2024

Check out this self-portrait board from our program at The Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital. And remember us this Giving Tuesday. We bring the healing fun of creativity to the hospital every day!