The Debra Ouyang Foundation

Watercolor for cancer wards Founded 2026

What we do

We start where Debbie fought: putting watercolor supplies within reach of leukemia and transplant patients facing long inpatient stays.

Viridian

Art supplies, delivered

We stock the leukemia and transplant ward where Debbie was treated with watercolor supplies — paints, brushes, paper, and the small things that make painting possible from a hospital bed. The ward’s own staff decide who would welcome a kit; we never ask for a patient’s name. As the fund grows, so does the list of wards.

Ultramarine

The kit

Everything arrives new and sealed in one box: a twelve-color watercolor set, synthetic brushes, a water brush so there is no open cup at the bedside, a pad of real watercolor paper sized for a tray table, blank bookmarks and cards to paint and give away, and a card that says you don’t have to know how. Debbie didn’t either.

  • Watercolor of a round, scowling magenta bird.
  • Watercolor of a wide-eyed bird with a spiky purple crest and rainbow feathers.
  • Watercolor of a grumpy blue-gray bird standing on grass.
  • Watercolor of a fluffy orange bird with heavy-lidded eyes.
  • Watercolor of a blue and pink bird with a crest, mid-step.
  • Watercolor of three small birds — green, purple, and orange — on a branch.
  • Watercolor of a purple and pink bird with wings raised.
Plate II — Debbie’s birds. This is the kind of painting a first kit tends to produce.
Cerulean Blue

Where we’re headed

Art supplies are the beginning, not the boundary. As the endowment grows we plan to add comfort supplies for long inpatient stays — starting with adaptive hospital shirts designed to work around lines and ports.

If you run an art or patient-support program on an oncology ward and want to talk, we’d love to hear from you — use the contact page.