Colorado nurse turns COVID vaccine vials into chandelier in appreciation for healthcare workers – CBS Denver

BOULDER COUNTY, Colorado (CNN) – A Colorado public health nurse took empty COVID-19 vaccine vials and turned them into beautiful art, paying tribute to her fellow healthcare workers.

Laura Weiss told CNN she was a retired nurse when Boulder County Public Health requested help administering the vaccines in February.

“I had noticed all those hundreds and hundreds of empty vaccine vials that were otherwise going to go to waste, and I thought they were really beautiful and wanted to do something big and meaningful with them,” Weiss said.

(credit: Laura Weiss / CNN)

Weiss got permission to use the Moderna glass vaccine vials and created a beautiful chandelier.

“I realized that I wanted to do something with light because I felt like the year had been so dark and difficult for so many people who love the idea of ​​bringing light to it”, she declared.

“I think light can represent hope and clarity and also has the potential to broaden the big picture and verify perspective.”

The real idea of ​​making a chandelier came from an eBay purchase. She found the empty frame online and thought it would be a great vessel for her project.

“From a distance… the chandelier looks like an ordinary chandelier, but as you get closer to it it actually becomes something very different and it changes your perspective,” she said.

“It reminds me that we can see something one way and as you get closer or look at it differently, our assumptions can actually be very incorrect.”

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The artwork does not yet have a permanent home, but Weiss said that wherever she goes, she wants everyone who sees her to understand her intention to honor healthcare workers who put their health on the line. and their lives at risk during the pandemic.

“There are too many people and professions to mention, but above all these nurses whom I have just seen working tirelessly, hours and hours and days and days, without a day off, who have so much passion, skills and care. and kindness, ”she said.

“How do you say thank you to someone who does so much for others? It is so inspiring.

However, Weiss is now giving back and inspiring others.

“This piece of appreciation art is really important because I think we all see that feeling of oneness at this point as we see the Delta variant increase,” Angela Simental, head of communications and marketing, told CNN. marketing for Boulder Public Health.

“We are really happy to have this kind of light in art to remind us that we can protect ourselves and others by getting vaccinated by being kind to each other and honoring the efforts of everyone involved. in that. “

By Lauren M. Johnson, CNN

The-CNN-Wire
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