One of the largest, most-visible pieces of the BioBridge Global art collection started out as trash.

“Shrine,” which hangs on the north wall of the Headquarters Building lobby, is made from 21 student desks that artist Henry Rayburn discovered in a dumpster behind a school. Rayburn bolted the pieces together, overlaying them with images of the Alamo, and it has been part of the art collection since the building opened in 1996.

That art collection – which expanded when the Donor Pavilion opened in 2008 – was a major part of a vision for a new facility that originated in the early 1990s. 

“We sat down with the leadership and said the building just can’t be a building,” said Tim Blonkvist, architect with Overland Partners, which designed the facility. “The building had to reflect the purpose, mission and culture of this organization.”

Our commemoration of Donate Life Month continues today with the premiere of a new video, “Melissa’s Story.”

Superior HealthPlan, the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance and BioBridge Global came together to produce a video featuring Mary Kay Thomas, whose daughter Melissa was an organ and tissue donor.

Though she battled multiple health issues, Melissa Thomas never wavered in her desire to be an organ and tissue donor. And when she passed away, she was able to help dozens of people, including a patient who received her liver in a lifesaving transplant.