The first exhibit in St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s 2012 Hearts of LasVegas art collection are on display at Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, beginning Monday, February 13, 2012.

Custom designed by local artists, a three-dimensional, five-foot tall heart statue will be on display in the Hotel’s lushly landscaped porte cochere entrance way. Other pieces in the series will be housed at various locations throughout the Las Vegas Valley as part of a citywide art exhibit.

Sponsorship of each heart begins at USD 20,000.00 and all proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas is honoured to display the first heart in St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s 2012 collection,” says Mark Hellrung, Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas general manager. “We hope our participation will help generate awareness for this extraordinary organisation and the incredible work it does for children, while showcasing the work of our talented local artists.”

St. Jude’s third annual gala, An Affair of the Art, will also be held at Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas on Saturday, May 12, 2012. The event will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of St. Jude and its mission of finding cures and saving lives.

“We’re grateful to Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas for helping us raise support for the pioneering research and groundbreaking treatments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” says Lauren Hanna, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “We hope the Las Vegas community can see the phenomenal art that will be on display. It’s a symbol of the love our donors and friends have for patient families around the world who are in desperate need of lifesaving treatments.”

The Hearts of Las Vegas initiative began in 2011, with several sculptures placed in areas around Las Vegas. The program allows artists to give each heart life through their interpretation of what a “heart or life for a child” means to them. The heart that will be on display at Four Seasons was created by local artist Betty Kristof, whose own son was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of five. The heart depicts the freedom of ideas and the earth’s children united in a circle of love.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded in Memphis in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that “no child should die in the dawn of life.” Its mission is to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.