Dr. Rebecca Burrell, long-time CoxHealth volunteer and adjunct art professor at Drury University, recently attended a eception hosted by first lady Laura Bush to honor the artists who decorated ornaments for the White House Christmas tree.
Senators and representatives from every district in the country selected an artist to paint an ornament for the tree. Burrell was selected by Rep. Roy Blunt to create an ornament in keeping with the first lady’s request for a “Red, White and Blue Christmas.” Burrell’s ornament not only incorporates the first lady’s wishes, it also includes elements reflecting our southwest Missouri heritage.
The ornament’s design includes the Missouri symbols of dogwood blooms and a bluebird, and a farm scene. Burrell says the farm was actually inspired by the old barn on her family’s farm in Barry County, where she grew up.
Developing the design required a lot of thinking and planning. “The challenge was to
design in the round and make the ornament beautiful to be seen from any angle,” she says.
Burrell says attending the reception for the artists was a “beautiful time,” and the
event reaffirmed for her the role of the arts. “Despite all the discord and uncertainty, the economy and our current political climate, all the areas of our country were represented at the White House that night, through an old-fashioned Christmas symbol,” she said.
Burrell received the six-inch blank ornament from the White House in July, and returned the finished artwork in October. The ornament will remain at the White House. At Cox, she volunteers with the Healing Through the Arts program.
Posts
