A love of art and cats
Rosie is a curious and clever 9-year-old who doesn’t let anything slow her down. She loves to paint, dance barefoot in her backyard and snuggle with her family’s six cats. Diagnosed shortly after birth with spina bifida, Rosie has faced numerous medical challenges, including eight surgeries—all of which she and her family navigated with the expertise and compassion of her care teams at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
Rosie was asked to participate in the Coraline’s Curious Cat Trail, a free art trail throughout Portland in celebration of the 15th anniversary of LAIKA’s debut film Coraline. The trail will feature 30 nearly 5-foot-tall cat sculptures throughout Portland, complete with maps, a website and social media. The sculptures, which will be hand-painted by local artists, will eventually be auctioned off. All the proceeds will go to OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
“OHSU Doernbecher is grateful to have been selected as the benefiting charity of the auction and we want to thank everyone at LAIKA, Wild in Art, Travel Portland and the Visit Downtown Campaign who made this possible,” said Dana A. Braner, M.D., physician-in-chief at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Credit Unions for Kids chair, and professor and chair of pediatrics in the OHSU School of Medicine. “With the community’s support of this project, we will continue meeting the needs of our patients and families throughout the region who turn to us for support in their most challenging moments. We are excited to see our families and supporters out on Coraline’s Curious Cat Trail.”
Rosie worked with LAIKA’s lead scenic painter, Katy Hughes, to design the “Hero Sculpture.”
“My statue reminds me of my creativity and to keep curious, clever and a bit tricksy! My mom says that these are the magical traits that help kids like me, who have medical issues, overcome those and get to lead amazing lives.”
Rosie
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Hear from Rosie and her mom, Kelly, about the design experience
What are some of your favorite scenes or characters from Coraline, and how did they influence your artwork?
Rosie: My favorite characters are Coraline, Wybie and the Cat. I like the scene with Coraline and Wybie where they attend the circus and have cotton candy, and the garden scenes too! I also enjoy the scene with Coraline having dinner with her Other parents and the gravy train on the table.
Tell us about Rosie.
Kelly: Rosie will be in 4th grade, and loves reading, being outside in our garden, cats, arts, baking and playing with her friends. She has PELVIS syndrome, which is a rare syndrome, part of which includes Spina Bifida. She has had 8 surgeries at Doernbecher, and several hospital stays. She is very grateful for her team at Doernbecher and all the care they have given to us.
How did the idea for “The Hero Sculpture” come about, and what was the collaborative process like from start to finish?
Rosie’s doctors first asked us about the project and if she likes cats – which is VERY funny since we have 6 cats, two of which are kittens that Rosie had recently adopted for her birthday. Cats are one of her very favorite things! We felt very lucky and grateful for this opportunity and to share what an amazing place OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital is. The process has been so much fun and such a highlight for our whole family. From touring LAIKA studios, meeting the Coraline team and Katy, the inspirational artist Rosie was paired with, we have had such a blast.
What does the final sculpture symbolize for both of you, and how do you hope it resonates with people who see it?
The final statue reminds Rosie of her creativity, continual curiosity and clever tricksy side that has been something she has relied on during tough times, such as hospital stays and her surgeries. We hope that it brings similar hope and encouragement to anyone that is going through a tough thing, and reminds them that they aren’t alone.
How has working together on this project impacted you personally, and what have you learned from each other?
We LOVE Katy, and Rosie would love to spend every day, all day painting and working with her. Everyone at LAIKA really embraced our family and the passion to help kids in Oregon and Washington by sponsoring this curious cat trail. We felt so honored to have been chosen, and hope that our story connects more families and patients together by sharing our experiences. We learned from Katy to embrace our creative side and even our mistakes, which can be turned into something magical.
With the proceeds from the auction benefiting Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, what do you hope this contribution will achieve for the hospital and its patients?
Rosie would like to be a Child Life Specialist when she grows up, and that has been one program that really has made our time at Doernbecher much easier and more kid friendly. They always need support in the way of funds to help purchase craft supplies, toys and other things that make the hospital seem more like home for kids. We hope that the funds can be used to support families and patients at Doernbecher to make any part of their journey more easy, since the smallest things can bring so much joy.
Tell us about your cats
Our cats’ names are: Turnip and Radish, who are one year old. We then have Phoebe, which was a neighborhood stray we adopted, and Little One, who we also adopted from a stray, that are around 8 years old. We then have Wee Wee who is 14 years old and our oldest cat, Bindi, who is 16.
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