HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Patients, staff and even volunteers can't keep their eyes off a rainbow-colored mural that recently popped up at Children's Hospital South Campus in Highlands Ranch.
"I pass by it or stop at it a hundred times a day," said Kari Kwinn, a volunteer coordinator at Children's, adding she keeps finding hidden gems the more she looks. "My favorite is the octopus. It's right up there in the top left-hand corner."
Kwinn is standing in front of a piece of art titled, "The Hope of LEGO."
The mural is the creation of Makenna Rodolph, a Golden teenager Scripps News Denver profiled earlier this year as she sought donations for the art installation.
She was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia 10 days before her eigth birthday and used LEGOS as an outlet to help her get through the tough times as she battled the disease, which would eventually reach into 90% of her bone marrow.
Two and-a-half years of treatment and 23 spinal taps later, Makenna is now seven years cancer-free.
Inside the artist's studio, which is really just an 18-year-old's bedroom, Makenna told Scripps News Denver she created the mural as a way to give back and inspire kids going through treatment at the hospital.
Last month, she unveiled her mural in front of cheers from family, friends and hospital staff at Children's, and told Scripps News Denver she can only hope and dream of the kind of impact her mural will have on young cancer patients.
"I would definitely say that's kind of a word that guided that journey for me," Makenna said.
Her art project not only helped her get through the ups and downs of cancer treatment, but it also helped her hit the highest rank you can get as a member of the Boys Scouts, Eagle.
"When I heard about the opportunity [to join the Boy Scouts], I joined, like, immediately," she said, with a smile on her face.
Today, hope for Makenna means celebration.
The art installation can be found inside the main entrance of Children's Hospital South Campus.
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