Contact: Amanda White

From left, Jacqueline Noonan, M.D., pediatric cardiologist at UK Children's Hospital, and Sheila and Greg David, stand in front of the Makenna Wall.

August 1, 2003 (Lexington, Ky.) -- University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital received a new look today, thanks to a donation from the Makenna Foundation. A 30-foot long ceramic tile wall designed by Lexington artists Jill and Richard Stofer now greets patients and visitors entering UK Children’s Hospital.

While a patient at Texas Children’s Hospital, Makenna David, of Lexington, found joy in touching a three-dimensional ceramic tile wall. There, Makenna was diagnosed with pulmonary veno occlusion, a rare lung disorder. After Makenna passed away in December 1998 at 20-months old, it became a goal of her mother, Sheila David, to build a similar wall at UK Children’s Hospital—where Makenna also received treatment.

To create the wall, Richard Stofer built the steel frame while Jill Stofer, an art teacher, enlisted help from her students at the Lexington Montessori School to create the hundreds of tiles that fill the frame

The Makenna Foundation was established by RE/MAX Creative Realty in September 2001 in Makenna's memory. The foundation holds an annual fundraiser, The Art of Making Miracles, to purchase equipment for UK Children's Hospital. This year’s event will be held on September 5, 2003. The event will help fund a sedation room for a new UK Pediatric Hematology/Oncology clinic which soon will begin construction.