Paintings for Pediatrics

By: Anne Kaiser

Sorbo contemplated this dilemma; a potential solution emerged through a series of fortuitous events. Sorbo had attended high-end art auctions, sometimes marveling at the sums paid for large-scale art, some of which he found less visually inspiring than others. In 2019, while Sorbo attended an art studio event with a group of friends, his experiences coalesced into his “God moment.” After searching for a format for a new client appreciation event, Sorbo settled on what would become his first fundraising art auction for childhood cancer patients.

Paintings for Pediatrics became incorporated as a nonprofit organization in February 2020. Sorbo called upon a group of supporters to become his Board and selected nine children battling childhood cancer as his first representative group of artists. These young cancer patients crafted art at a local studio, and Sorbo and his team carefully recorded their personal stories. They auctioned off the artwork and served food and beverages to the guests. The gathering’s success inspired a larger Gala in 2021, held at the Milwaukee Art Museum. 

Paintings for Pediatrics is comprised solely of a dedicated team of volunteers who collaborate to realize the organization’s goals. Currently, the organization is supported by seven Board members, and, in conjunction with the core team of volunteer staff, additional volunteers come to help in different capacities at different events.

Paintings for Pediatrics works with childhood cancer patients who create about 40 new paintings annually. The paintings are about 8-by-10 inches to 16-by-20 inches in size, with the occasional 3-by-4-foot “flagship” painting, which is highlighted at the conclusion of the Gala evening. Sorbo noted that individuals often look for a particular size of art when they’re planning a purchase. In addition to the paintings, Sorbo and his team carefully record each young artist’s story, which is typed and presented to the buyer along with the selected painting. 

Paintings for Pediatrics holds an annual Gala in autumn. At the event, 20-25 original paintings are auctioned off while around 100-150 guests enjoy dinner and an open bar. Tables are sold to companies who invite members to attend the Gala; individual tickets may also be purchased. At other events throughout the year, reproductions of the original paintings are sold to raise additional funds. 

These children’s “stories are sad, inspiring, [hold] a lot of emotion,” Sorbo said. These “kids are warriors,” he noted. Sorbo recalled a young boy who painted for Paintings for Pediatrics. The boy was diagnosed with cancer as a three-year-old and passed away last year, at the age of ten. He had spent much of his time in a hospital room in New York City; his painting aptly featured the New York City skyline. When asked about his art, the child had simply explained of the skyline, “It’s all I know.” After he passed away, in a full-circle moment of support, the person who had purchased the boy’s art donated the painting back to the boy’s family.

“The art helps us better get to know them,” Sorbo indicated of the moving experience of working with the young cancer patients and their families. “It creates a bond, friendship.” In Sorbo’s view, by helping families navigating pediatric cancer, he hopes these families will in turn help others. Sorbo has been able to keep in touch with a handful of families, while others choose to remain more private about their experience.

Paintings for Pediatrics offers these monetary grants to families facing staggering emotional, medical, personal, and financial responsibilities; according to Sorbo, the multi-factor cost to a family navigating childhood cancer is often well over $833,000. The care for a child with cancer is in many senses a full-time job, and Sorbo learned that, in many families with two working parents/partners or guardians, one must quit their outside job to help navigate their child’s chemotherapy and other medical treatments, care and needs. Some spend in the range of 30 hours each week at a hospital during their child’s treatment. 

Sorbo is thrilled that his organization can offer financial support to families, with a policy that the money may be used however the families most need. Paintings for Pediatrics aims to give as many grants to families as possible, with a goal of “[scaling] as high as we can go,” according to Sorbo. 

Sorbo noted that Paintings for Pediatrics has recently experienced an increase in the number of families requesting financial support. Initially, the organization was contacted once or twice a month by new families seeking assistance. Now, Paintings for Pediatrics receives about five new requests for support each week. Sorbo believes this increase has a two-fold source; he thinks more people are becoming aware of Paintings for Pediatrics and the organization’s mission and work, and he suspects that instances of childhood cancer may also be increasing. 

In addition, Paintings for Pediatrics recently received an offer of assistance from a local marketing company. Sorbo said the company will help his organization to “scale this, grow this as much as we can. It’s been fully organic up to this time.” 

According to Sorbo, the nature of Paintings for Pediatrics’ “organic” exposure to the community and subsequent growth have stemmed partly from involvement with broadcasts on local radio and television channels, which then draw families to the organization’s website, where they can apply for grants. Children’s Wisconsin (Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin) also refers some families to the organization, but due to HIPAA regulations, this is not always an automatic process. 

Sorbo is enthusiastic about sharing the mission of Paintings for Pediatrics with a wider audience and further expanding their positive reach. The organization is finalizing a hardcover coffee-table-sized book showcasing the paintings and stories of 25 of its participants. The book, a special project over the past few years, will be available in print in the coming weeks.

Sorbo envisions growth for Paintings for Pediatrics; his wish is to form similar fund-raising art auctions in all 50 states, with the goal of positively impacting the lives of more families touched by childhood cancer. As Sorbo aptly noted, “No state is exempt from pediatric cancer.” He stated, “We can’t fix the emotional [pain]—[but] the financial burden is solvable. We can help [families] maintain, help the hemorrhaging.” He hopes to find more people to join his organization locally, as well as to help launch similar branches nationally. Sorbo stated, “We have the platform…[this is] very scalable; it’s just a matter of finding the right people to do it.”

The young artists know their paintings “will help support others,” according to Sorbo. “We’ve created the environment to sell the art; we’re blessed to have the opportunity—it’s our responsibility to run with it to help these families,” he said. In the end, looking at the children’s art, according to Sorbo, “delivers gratitude.” By witnessing the pictorial stories documenting the young cancer patients’ journeys of joy and sorrow, we are reminded of our own gifts, of the many ways we are touched by stable health or other aspects of good fortune. As Sorbo summarized, “Art is how it makes you feel; what would you pay to be grateful every day?”