To create this artwork installed at Niagara Health, local artist and Brock University Professor Donna Szoke used original sticky notes with messages written by members of the Niagara community after receiving a COVID vaccine.
Each year, March 11 marks the National Day of Observance for COVID-19, a time to reflect on the lives lost, the challenges endured and the resilience shown by our teams at Niagara Health and the communities we serve.
In 2021, during our mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics, individuals were invited to write a message on a sticky note after receiving their vaccine. What began as a simple invitation quickly grew into thousands of handwritten notes covering the clinic’s walls at Seymour-Hannah Arena — messages of gratitude, remembrance, relief and hope. Teams began calling it their “rainbow of hope.”
Those notes became a powerful symbol of community support during a time of uncertainty.
This year, we are installing permanent artwork created from those original sticky notes as a lasting tribute of gratitude.
Few witnessed the impact of those messages as closely as Natalie Ferraro. As a clinical leader and spokesperson during the pandemic, she saw firsthand how those small words of encouragement scribbled on simple sticky notes lifted teams through long and challenging days.
“When I think back to the earliest days of COVID, I remember the weight of uncertainty that touched every part of our lives. It was a time filled with fear, strain and questions none of us had ever faced before. Yet even within that hardship, something remarkable happened within NH,” she says.
“Our teams came together with a strength that felt almost instinctive. People showed up for one another with courage, empathy and determination. What could have divided us instead brought forward a powerful sense of unity. NH truly rose for our community, standing steady when our region needed us most.”
Ferraro says this artwork holds deep meaning for her and teams across the hospital system.
The artwork, by local artist and Brock University professor Donna Szoke, displays the original sticky notes with messages written by members of the Niagara community after receiving a COVID vaccine, shaped into a heart. In the centre of the heart are the words #NHappreciation,
“When I see this heart, I see more than paper and ink. I see the voices of a community that endured fear yet still found moments to express gratitude. I see people who chose hope. I see families, caregivers and individuals who believed in one another even when the world felt heavy,” Ferraro says.
Szoke says the project was sparked by late Niagara Health Communications Specialist Steven Gallagher, who approached her with an idea to cherish and celebrate the sticky notes and their expressions of gratitude.
“When I saw the wall of sticky notes, I was overwhelmed,” Szoke says. “It took me right back to that moment, how miraculous it felt that this vaccination had been invented. I’ve never seen that much gratitude in one place.”
Sorting through tens of thousands of notes in her studio, Szoke encountered messages that ranged from simple thank-yous to deeply personal reflections.
Some expressed astonishment, including one from a 99-year-old who wrote they couldn’t believe they were living to see a vaccine for COVID-19. Others featured drawings, hearts, cats sketched while passing time, quiet expressions of relief.
One pattern stood out above all: hearts.
“So many people drew hearts,” Szoke says. “I felt a huge responsibility handling them. It’s an amazing legacy.”
Ferraro says the artwork reminds her that during one of our most challenging chapters, light still found its way through in the form of small, colourful handwritten messages.
For Szoke, the project represents more than a tribute; it highlights the essential role of art in healthcare environments.
“Art helps transform perspective,” she says. “It bridges how we frame science and how it lands on the human experience.”
She hopes the installation will remind viewers of what was achieved during a period defined by fear and uncertainty.
“There was a moment when, globally, we worked together to create something for everyone’s benefit,” she says. “That’s wondrous.”
Art installation locations:
Marotta Family Hospital: The hallway connecting the front entrance to the Emergency Department
Welland Hospital: The front foyer
Niagara Falls Hospital: Outside the main floor visitor elevator across from pharmacy
Each location was intentionally chosen to provide visibility to staff, patients and families, ensuring this shared chapter in our history remains present in the spaces where care continues every day.
To every staff member, physician, volunteer and community partner who carried Niagara through this difficult time, thank you.
Thousands of local residents used sticky notes to share messages of hope, gratitude and love during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sticky notes lined the arena-turned-vaccination clinic at the Seymour-Hannah Arena in St. Catharines in May of 2021.
