This chandelier is viral — but only on the Internet!
One Colorado nurse strung up 400 cleaned-out, used Moderna vials to create a sparkling chandelier this August. But, she never expected the reaction when Boulder County Public Health posted her art on Facebook last week.
“The first thing I did was to share pictures with colleagues. They asked if they could post it on Facebook, and now it has reached something like 9 million people,” nurse Laura Weiss told The Post.
The Internet is divided over the chandelier titled the “Light of Appreciation,” with some Facebook commenters calling it “hopeful” and others calling it “disturbing.”
“Honestly, the craziest part has been the controversy. It tapped a nerve,” Weiss told The Post. “It is transparent that there is a very, very sharp divide between people’s thoughts on vaccinating.”
The chandelier is made of about 400 vials of the coronavirus vaccine, acquired through several levels of approvals, using care to make sure they were safe, clean, properly handled and secure, she said.
“The vials were going to be thrown away. I thought they were really beautiful and wanted to do something with them,” Weiss told The Post.
Then the nurse of 33 years, who has administered the two-dose jab during the coronavirus pandemic, bought the chandelier base on Craigslist for $20, she said.
“I knew I wanted to do a light of some kind because it has been a dark year for so many people,” Weiss told The Post.
She used a dental drill to drill holes, allowing her to thread vials together with beads and crystals. The process took almost all the month of August, she said.
“My intention was to honor people who have saved so many lives and worked so hard,” Weiss told The Post.
The elaborate light is currently in her living room, but she and her employer have been approached by physicians, restaurants and even Moderna about possible public uses, she said. Moderna did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
“I want it to go somewhere that respects the intention behind it. My dream is to get money for it somewhere and put it into a nursing scholarship. If I could raise funds for a nursing scholarship, that would make me very happy,” Weiss told The Post.
Some 62% of Americans have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the CDC’s most recent weekly update. Data on the percent who received the Moderna vaccine was not available.
