Quána Madison
Denver, CO
Quána Madison (she/her/hers) is a multi-disciplinary artist with a philanthropist’s spirit. Quána designs wearable art, and is also a wellbeing advocate, a workshop facilitator, and a model and on-camera actor.
Expressive arts revived her soul after enduring cancer previvor treatments and developing disruptive life-changing chronic illnesses. She believes art nourishes well-being.
During her Ph.D program at the University of Colorado Boulder In 2015, Quána began exhibiting early cancer warning symptoms. Genetic testing, combined with her prior health history of precancerous growths, and a genetic predisposition, made her at high-risk of developing aggressive forms of breast, ovarian and uterine cancers.
In 2016, Quána underwent emergency hysterectomy, oophorectomy, and double mastectomies. After multiple breast reconstruction procedures, Quána barely survived numerous life-threatening post-op complications, yet during a rare surgical complication Quána had an extraordinary out-of-body near-death experience. The experience was transformative and restored her faith in the sacredness of life.
Later diagnosed with surgical menopause, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disease, chronic pain syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, endocrine system problems, peripheral neuropathy, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, doctors informed Quána that her life expectancy was shortened due to her complex health landscape. For a time, the compounding impact of her incurable chronic illnesses caused her life to completely fall apart. Discontinuing her Ph.D. due to debilitating health reasons, Quána began her post-traumatic growth journey.
Despite continuing to undergo multiple surgeries and life-threatening complications since, Quána credits the doctors, medical specialists and nurses of University of Colorado Hospital at the Anschutz Medical Campus for saving her life.
Throughout Quána’s health adventures, creative expression combined with wellness practices continues to nourish her resiliency and positive attitude. She loves creating gestural art, abstract expressionist paintings and mixed media art. Quána began hand-painting used clothing & accessories as a way to promote sustainability in the fashion industry. Recently, she began designing ready-to-wear clothing featuring her artwork, in addition to hand-painted clothing.
Quána strives to inspire, educate, empower, and uplift through her art, creative services, and advocacy. She is passionate about promoting inner peace, social-emotional well-being, and mental health. She collaborates with organizations and supports social causes that promote a better world. Quána facilitates community arts engagement with a variety of organizations. She is a member of the Community Leadership Council for the National Pain Advocacy Center (a non-profit advocacy organization working to change the mindsets and policies that shape the care people with pain receive). She collaborates frequently with the Denver Art Museum, the Center on Colfax - LGBTQ Colorado, the National Institutes of Health HEAL-Initiative, Envision: You (non-profit mental health education and advocacy organization dedicated to supporting the behavioral health needs of the LGBTQ+ community), Colorado Artists in Recovery (a non-profit that nurtures the creative spirit of people in recovery from substance misuse and mental health disorders), Catholic Charities, Habitat for Humanity, and the Denver Botanic Gardens. Additionally, she is a part-time museum professional at the Clyfford Still Museum.
Quána considers herself a cosmopolitan global community member. She is a New Yorker who served as a public school teacher in Brooklyn, NY. She is a former expatriate who lived and worked in Shanghai, China. A graduate of Colorado College and New York University, Quána now resides in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, Zach, and their cats Maxwell, Francis, and Bodhi.
