Beloved O'ahu artist Peggy Chun, who is almost completely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), has completed a mosaic of Father Damien that took 18 months and a little help from a lot of friends.

Chun, who is able to communicate only by directing her gaze at an alphabet board, nevertheless directed the creation of a 4-by-8-foot mural made upfof 50,0000 small squares of paper, each painted to her specifications. The mural will be unveiled in a ceremony at the State Capitol at 12:45 p.m. March 14, with readings and music, after a resolution commending her is read on the Senate floor.

Chun's assistance came from 142 students at Holy Trinity School, coordinated by their teacher, and Chun's co-author in a recent book project, Shelly Mecum. When Chun's condition became such that she couldn't visit the work, her friend and fellow artist Magdalena Hawajska flew in from Poland last fall and has been working intensively on the mural. It is part painting, part mosaic, Mecum explained.

It is Mecum's hope to take the mural to Rome and, if the artist is well enough, Chun with it.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.