HeARTworks Studio adds to A Rosie Place for Children's care

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- HeARTworks Studio is finally open after two years of hard work and lots of community help. The art studio is meant to help medically fragile kids express themselves.

A couple hundred attendees watched a pink ribbon get cut in the backyard of A Rosie Place for Children. The free children's hospital offers respite care for families of medically fragile children.

"Pretty quickly we found that art was a great way to connect with them in a non clinical way." Says Sherina Gonzalez, A Rosie Place for Children's Director of Advancement, "So we were able to really connect with them and have them create pieces of artwork to express themselves in those ways. And it actually turned out to be a blessing as well because a lot of these children may not go to school, and they may not be able to make traditional art like children often do in their childhood, and so when we were gifting families with their pieces of artwork after their stays it was a highly emotional moment to see families having artwork from a child where maybe they didn't have it before."

An exciting feature of the HeARTworks Studio are the sky screens. Which are designed for children who are laying back in wheelchairs. Their own artwork can be brought to life through AI and placed on screens on the ceiling that way they can see it on their own terms.

Now kids will be able to explore their abilities and express themselves all while some cannot verbally communicate or hold a brush.