Hello and welcome to Living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

A local surgical oncologist is being honored for his work outside of the hospital when he's not treating cancer patients.

The St Luke's University Health Network.

Dr..

Turns his talents to art by day.

Dr. Lee Riley works tirelessly to make sure his cancer patients at St Luke's Cancer Center are well taken care of.

My background starts in college.

When I found out you could immunize mice against cancer.

And that was just.

That was it.

That's all I that's what I want to do.

I want to immunize humans against cancer while practicing medicine is his first love.

He found another calling later in life.

You find something that you're passionate about and everything else falls apart.

Once his stethoscope comes off, the sculptor comes out.

I started out doing glass using.

I went to a banana factory and started taking classes in glass and my wife and I did it to share a hobby together.

Now the surgical oncologist is being honored for his work outside of the hospital.

He's one of the nine Linny Award recipients for 2023.

I was floored.

There was my name that I would say was shell shocked.

It's like, No way.

The Art Awards, hosted by the Arts Quest Foundation, recognize creators throughout the Lehigh Valley practicing in different art mediums.

There are generally 9 to 10 categories depending on the year.

This year there are nine.

They range from philanthropy and the arts to lifetime achievement to student scholarship to Visual Artists of the Year, performing Artists of the Year.

Selena Lavine is the executive director of the Arts Quest Foundation and shares the history of the awards, saying they are named after Marlene Linney.

FOWLER, who was an artist and beloved philanthropist in the Lehigh Valley.

She gave her time, treasure, ties, talents to many organizations in the Lehigh Valley, including Arts Quest.

She found art and community extremely important, and she really did everything she could to improve those areas for us today, Lavinia says.

Fowler co-founded Arts Quest's Banana Factory Arts Center, a place Dr. Riley credits for his success as an artist.

He takes the title this year as Visual Artist of the Year.

The Visual Artist of the Year is determined by the Arts Quest Visual Arts Board, and they are looking for a candidate who is not only passionate and talented in the arts, but also gives back to their community significantly within the arts field.

It's a title Riley says he never thought he could earn at this point in his life.

It took me probably seven or eight years to try to actually think of myself as an artist.

The doctor turned sculptor is on the Visual Arts board, which decides on who gets the awards.

So he had to abstain from the voting this year, he says, although he had a hard time recognizing his own talent, creativity always ran in his family as his grandmother was an artist as well.

We all wanted her art, and that's when I really realized that I wanted to create something to leave for my own children, because having her art was so meaningful.

The St Luke's doctor has also been able to share his love of art with his patients by supplying glass art kits for them to make their own masterpieces.

In addition to the Linny award, Dr. Riley was recently asked to create a piece for St Luke's to display outside the visitor center at the Steel Stacks.

And we are so thrilled to welcome all of you here today for what is now our second annual sculpture at Steel Stacks exhibition.

Unveiling the title of the sculpture is Blue Phoenix Rising Blue for the Blue Frame.

Since we have an orange frame down the other end.

Phoenix Because it is rising from the decaying, wonderful place this used to function as.

And now it's a different function.

Even with so many professional and personal accomplishments in his life, the doctor is humbled by the recognition and hugely honored.

I think it helps me appreciate that maybe I'm an artist, maybe because I still have trouble grasping that concept.

The Linny Awards will be presented on Thursday, November 9th at Musikfest Café at the ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem.

That will do it for this edition of Living in the Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.