Five years ago, when Michael Dunn's seven-year-old son Steven woke one morning with a swollen left eye, he took him to the emergency room thinking they would come home with eye drops for Steven. Instead, Steven became the 33rd known case of rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer striking soft body tissue, that had no long-term survivors over the age of 20.Enter artist Connie Douglas. While doing some work in the Dunn home, she was in awe of Steven's spirit as he battled cancer that would most likely steal his life before he reached adulthood. Inspired by Steven, she contacted Phoenix Children's Hospital, with a proposal to create and donate artwork for the children who visited or stayed at the hospital.
The art project turned into nine wall story panels, and within each painted panel are hidden Shnnoogles. A Shnnoogle, which stands for caring and sharing, hugging and snuggling, giving in goodness and action, are furry snowball creatures with big round eyes. As children look at the panels, they search for the hidden Shnnoogles.
While Douglas was painting the panels, she was diagnosed with MS. To be equally inspired by Arizona Republic Kathleen Quilligan's feature Artist hopes Shnnoogles bring comfort to hospitalized kids, to find out how Steven and Connie are doing, and the book she plans to write, go here.
