Photo: Laura Weiss
While working eight-hour shifts vaccinating people for COVID, total strangers invited Laura England Weiss to their weddings. They were emotional about how the vaccine would change their lives and grateful to Weiss and the other nurses there to help.
Last February, when mass vaccination clinics were underway in Boulder County, Colorado, Weiss, 61, was part of a team vaccinating up to 1,000 people a day.
The whole experience, from the people waiting in cars for hours, often in cold and snowy weather, to the logistical effort of her colleagues to make it all happen, was uplifting for her. “It was so beautiful and inspiring,” says Weiss. They were emotions in stark contrast to how Weiss felt during the summer of 2020 when the number of American deaths to COVID felt unfathomable.
That creation, “Light of Appreciation,” was crafted using 271 emptied vaccine vials. From a distance, the light appears like a typical brass chandelier. A closer look reveals the mainly Moderna bottles connected to red beads and crystals. “I wanted to shine a light on what nurses had done and what they continue to do,” says Weiss.
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Laura Weiss
As she was giving out COVID shots and the bottles piled up, Weiss thought they were too beautiful to be thrown away. She found an old chandelier base online, and her idea evolved. “It was healing for me thinking about what each vial represented— potentially saving people from a lonely death,” she says. “Making this piece felt so much better— like, wow, look at what we’ve done.”
The piece has also caught the attention of multiple galleries and museums, including The Smithsonian. The chandelier has been hanging in Weiss’s living room and will be on display starting November 15th at Boulder Community Health Foothills Hospital until the end of the year. She’s hoping to use the attention it’s garnered tofund scholarshipsto help underprivileged nursing students. “It’s been such a dark time,” she says. “Hopefully, the chandelier is a reminder to open your heart to the reality of what we’ve been through and to be grateful to those who tried to keep people alive.”
source: people.com
