Sensory Art Wall Light Painting Photograph
I recently had the opportunity to photograph the pieces for creating a Sensory Art Wall Light Painting Photograph at Crescent Cove in Brooklyn Center, MN. Crescent Cove is a soon-to-be-open hospice and respite home for children and their families.
The new home of the Crescent Cove Hospice and Respite Home for Children in Brooklyn Center, MN.
Our connection with Crescent Cove goes back to our friendship with Harmon and Nita Killebrew. Hospice care was very important to Harmon. During his retirement years, Harmon was a spokesperson for the hospice movement and embraced the role it plays at one of the most critical times we face in life.
Harmon’s family and friends created the Harmon Killebrew Hospice Home for Kids Fund to support Crescent Cove in its efforts to open the Midwest’s first children’s hospice and respite home.
The Need Is Great
There are children’s hospices in other parts of the world including the United Kingdom, Australia, Kuwait, and Canada. But currently, there are only TWO homes in the United States. Crescent Cove will now be the third.
In Australia, there are three children’s hospice homes. They are Very Special Kids, Bear Cottage, and the Hummingbird House. In Canada, the first children’s hospice and respite home in North America is at Canuck Place in Vancouver, Canada. There are now six children’s hospice and respite homes across Canada.
In the United Kingdom, there are over 50 homes for kids with life-limiting conditions. Some of the children’s hospices in the UK assisted Crescent Cove with business plans, program models, and architectural designs. The very first home to be built in the world in 1980 was the Helen & Douglas House.
The two other hospice homes for kids in the United States are the George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, CA. This was the very first residential children’s hospice in the United States when it opened in March of 2004. The Ryan House located in Phoenix, AZ opened its doors in March of 2010.
The good news is that there are four other hospice homes for kids currently in development in the United States. The Ladybug House in Seattle, Washington, the Sarah House in Cincinnati, Ohio, Here4U, Inc. in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and the Lucas House in Eagle, Idaho.
Crescent Cove
I have been blessed to be a very small part of the process of getting this home off the ground. I take photographs for a living and at times Crescent Cove needs photos. It’s a good match!
I recently volunteered at the 6th Annual Home Plate Gala for Crescent Cove. It was a remarkable evening that raised funds to help get this home open in 2018.
I’ve also been documenting the remodeling project going on at Crescent Cove over the past months. In my most recent photo shoot at the house, the entire project was nearing completion. I was taking photos of some of the rooms in their newly completed state.
Sensory Art Wall
There was a lot of hustle and bustle everywhere. What easily caught my eye, was the 3D wall that was right inside as you enter the home. They had a crew working on this centerpiece of the home, the Sensory Art Wall. The wall features items to touch, spin, light up, move, and visually enjoy.
The Sensory Art Wall at Crescent Cove in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota prior to light painting.
The Lead Artist, Christi Becker and assisting Artists, Kelly & Shane Anderson, Allison Luedkte, Cheryl O’Donnell, and volunteers of Crescent Cove were creating and painting the Sensory Art Wall while I was there.
Since I can’t go anywhere these days without looking for things for light painting photography, I asked them if I could light paint it once it was completed. I was given the green light.
Sensory Art Wall Light Painting Photography
So a few weeks ago, I spent an evening at Crescent Cove creating the images for Sensory Art Wall Light Painting Photograph that you see below. Now that I’ve completed the actual light painting part, it’s time to share it with you! I’ve included a short movie that shows the light painting photography from start to finish. I hope you enjoy it!
The completed light painting photography of the Sensory Art Wall at Crescent Cove in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
The Dragonfly
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,
there lived a little water beetle in a community of water
beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond
with few disturbances and interruptions.
Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of
their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and
would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their
friend was dead, gone forever.
Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge
to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would
not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what
he had found at the top.
When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the
surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so
warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body
changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful
blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body
designed for flying.
So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole
new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never
known existed.
Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking
by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them and
explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been
before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.
But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could
not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he
understood that their time would come, when they, too, would
know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off
into his joyous new life!
~Author Unknown~
Please consider a donation to Crescent Cove as it is a wonderful, much-needed home for children and their families. Thanks! – M&J