Read Time: 3 minutes
Takeaways:
- Karen Huntsman’s legacy was honored after her death on June 1, 2026, through a special lighting of the Beacon of Hope at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
- Art was central to Karen Huntsman’s vision of healing. She believed the hospital environment should be as restorative as the medical care itself.
Impact: Karen Huntsman saw art as a source of hope, encouragement, and comfort for cancer patients and their families. She shaped the institute’s culture, physical spaces, and patient-centered philosophy.
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) illuminated its “Beacon of Hope” in memory of Karen Haight Huntsman, a co-founder of the cancer center, whose compassion, vision, and enduring commitment to creating a place of dignity and healing continue to shape every aspect of the institute’s mission. Karen Huntsman passed away on June 1, 2026.
This marks only the second time the Beacon of Hope has been lit to honor an individual. The first was in 2018, in tribute to Huntsman Cancer Institute co-founder Jon M. Huntsman Sr.
The beacon was lit from dusk until dawn the week following her passing in the pattern of one of her favorite artworks from her personal collection, Germantown Wearing Blanket, a Diné (Navajo) weaving by an unknown artist. Karen Huntsman was an avid art collector, particularly of American Indian art of the American Southwest.
In fact, art was central to Jon M. and Karen Huntsman’s vision for the institute, as they wanted to create an environment “that was as healing as the medicine.” Several pieces of fine art are showcased throughout the hospital, and Karen Huntsman took great care in overseeing aesthetic details that would make patients’ visits more comfortable.
Germantown Wearing Blanket, known for its bold colors and striking geometric design, is on display in the Kathryn F. Kirk Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women’s Cancers. It hangs in an area women pass as they make their way into the mammography suite. The mammography area was a place Karen Huntsman took special pride in designing and shaping, as she recognized a calm and beautiful atmosphere would help set women at ease ahead of what could be an anxiety-inducing medical appointment.
The term Germantown comes from a region in Pennsylvania that produced colorful commercial yarns that the Diné incorporated into their weaving in the late 19th century. This particular piece was created around 1880. Wearing blankets are strongly colored and vibrantly patterned. Many, such as this one, elaborate on long-established design themes. Differing weaving traditions are reflected in the horizontals, diamond shapes, and serrated edges, which are characteristically Navajo.
In this Germantown weaving, the perfectly aligned rows of diamond-shaped symbols reflect the weaver’s thoughts of perfection. Navajo winter stories mention how the stars were once perfectly aligned in our skies, a place where peace and beauty resonate, according to Joe Kee, PhD, associate professor of Fine Arts, University of New Mexico-Gallup, who was interviewed for a Huntsman Cancer Institute video in 2023.
Karen Huntsman often spoke about her appreciation for the weavers who created the pieces like this one at Huntsman Cancer Institute. She described her wish for what she felt the weavings could offer to patients: “As [they] walk in this building and feel the warmth of these weavings and the people who did it, I hope it gives them hope, encouragement, love, because cancer can be so scary for so many people.”
Germantown Wearing Blanket is one of many works by American Indian artists hanging throughout the Kathryn F. Kirk Center, including pieces by renowned painter Jim Abeita and basket maker Mary Holiday Black.
Jon M. and Karen Huntsman were inspired to found a cancer center after Mr. Huntsman was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which they saw as a turning point in the focus of their philanthropic efforts. In 1995, they made an initial gift of $10 million to establish what would become Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the center opened its doors four years later. Following her husband’s death in 2018, Karen Huntsman continued her charitable work. She led her children in the historic gift of $150 million to create the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah. Central to her goals for Huntsman Mental Health Institute was the same philosophy she followed with Huntsman Cancer Institute—treat every patient and family member with dignity and respect, and to create spaces and environments that were optimistic and healing.
The Beacon of Hope at Huntsman Cancer Institute is often lit on weekends in accordance with the colors of cancer awareness months. To learn more about the art around the hospital, please visit our Art at Huntsman Cancer Institute page.