The Art Helps Heal Board of Directors have voted to appoint Rosie Colucci to chair an Art Helps Heal Teen Advisory Board.
Rosie is a freshman in high school who is one of our backpack recipients and has had multiple surgeries and in-patient stays.
When Rosie was 10 months old, she was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout her body. She developed multiple inoperable brain tumors. Rosie’s mom, Jo, has told us she has courageously battled every challenge.
During one of her hospital stays at the age of four, Rosie wanted to “… bring joy to other kids in the hospital, give them a little hope, cheer them up and make them feel better” so she began collecting new toys for hospitalized kids. Rosie has donated more than 60,000 toys, books, stuffed animals, and games for hospitalized kids as well as raised half a million dollars to help fund childhood cancer research – all before she even turned 13.
Her mother told us now that Rosie is older, she is interested in helping the older kids.
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Rosie received a backpack during one of her many in-patient stays in a Chicago children’s hospital. Secretary/Treasurer Shirley Forpe recently helped her explore Art Helps Heal materials and lessons. Rosie has been working her way through the Drawing lessons with great results.
In an interview, here’s what she told Shirley:
What do you like about the backpack?
R: The great variety of materials gives me a chance to try everything.
Are the lessons easy to follow?
R: So far, I can look at the illustrations in the Drawing book and know what to do.
The lessons are organized step-by-step to teach basic skills. What have you learned?
R: I learned to practice drawing up-side-down to get the right side of my brain working!
And you do those with ease. What about the use of value?
R: The shading techniques in the book are different than those I have done on my own.
It looks like you enjoy drawing the human figure.
R: Yes, and I learned the different proportions of a man, woman, and child.