SALT LAKE CITY — There’s a new piece of art hanging in the lobby of the University of Utah Hospital made up of items that you could have ties to and not even know.
The project has been twenty months in the making. It all started when anesthesiologist Dr. Emily Hagn received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020.
“It was a really positive and hopeful experience so I asked for the vial to make something out of it,” she said.
Next thing Dr. Hagn knew, she was collecting tens of thousands of empty vials from the health department, in hopes of healing through art.
“The pandemic has been a universal experience and we wanted to make this project collaborative,” she said.
The artwork consists of vaccine vials, clean healthcare waste, and personal mementos from healthcare workers, former patients, and Utahns in general. The vials included in the piece make up around 17,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in and around Salt Lake.
A teacher donated a pencil because they missed seeing the handwriting of their students. A mother donated a stone guardian angel in honor of her sixteen-year-old son who died by suicide after schools shut down.
“It brought me back memories when it was at maximum [capacity] last year,” said Cornelio Morales, a MICU CNA at the hospital.
Morales was there Friday morning when Project Art Heals Utah unveiled the exhibit. He recognized a pin from one of his first COVID-19 patients.
“It was a really touching moment for me,” he said.
‘Rise Up’ was created by a Denver mosaic artist, Heidi Calega, who started the hobby during the pandemic after she lost her father. It’s titled ‘Rise Up’ in honor of the song by Andra Day.
“I would listen to it driving to the hospital, I would listen to it putting my PPE on,” said Dr. Hagn.
Dr. Hagn hopes that when visitors see the figures, they see themselves.
“I found that this project and holding those mementos and holding the vials and holding the healthcare waste, it was a huge part of my saving grace,” she said.
The University of Utah created a virtual interactive experience of the piece, where you can click on each memento and read the story behind it. Click here to check it out.
