Bears are installed! Dedication May 15th 2:00 All welcome!

The Pollards, who commissioned the bear as a memorial for their son Matt, came out to watch and photograph the bears being moved.

The rigging was coming up against the mother bear's left hind foot. The resulting pressure while lifting the piece could have broken it, so Dereck Sheroan readjusts the rigging, lifting the bears slightly off center, to take pressure off the foot. Way to go Dereck! Charlie Pollard films the installation for a documentary he is creating. He will be leaving soon for college in San Francisco where he will be majoring in Film.

Loaded up and ready to go...

Away go the bears on their one and only trip away from home.

The Pollards follow in their car.

Out on interstate 64.

The bears arrive at Kosair Children's Hospital

The crane truck sets it's outriggers which stabilize it.

The bears get a look at their new home.

The bears, rigged up and ready to be hoisted into place.

Wheee!

Another view of the lift...

The bears are placed on boards, so that the slings can be removed. One of the slings is then made into a choker hitch, in order to raise up one side of the bear. Then, one of the boards can be removed. The process is repeated on the other side so that the bear sits flat on the concrete pad.

The bears in their new home.

The Pollards with the bears, being interviewed by their son Charlie for the documentary.

"you know...for kids."

Home of the Innocents sculpture dedication

There was a preview party for the sculptures the day after they were installed. Hosted by Sharon Receveur, we had a lot of great food and we got to meet a lot of great people.

The dedication cememony began with Sharon Receveur giving words of welcome, followed by Home of the Innocents CEO Gordon Brown and then Linda Speed spoke. Sharon Receveur and Linda Speed were the catalyst for the project, and they gathered a committee for which this project was obviously a labor of love. Many, many hours were spent finding all the names of the children. They were a great group of people to work with.

Ciaran Brown played Sister Emily Cooper in a production called "Remember me"

Each of the child actors stepped forward with one of the names of the children. Some had a short description of the childs short life which ended with the question "Will you remember me?" It was a quite moving performance.

Becky Riddle unveils a historical marker about Sister Emily Cooper and her work at Home of the Innocents.

Doves were released as "Ascension" was unveiled.

"Ascension" unveiled. The prayer and blessing of the sculptures was led by Rabbi Stanley Miles of Temple Shalom and Bishop Reed. The Ballard High School Madrigal Singers gave a performance before the unveiling of "Ascension". Linda Speed is on the right in the red jacket.

Metamorphosis in her site. The butterflies on the blanket symbolize the children. THe sculpture represents how Sister Emily Cooper, through her care, symbolized by the blanket,helped the children achieve spirituality

Detail of "Metamorphosis." Here you can see how the butterflies transform from flat patterns to fully dimensional butterflies, symbolizing the children's spiritual transformation.

"Metamorphosis" from the left side.

"Ascension" from the front. This piece represents Sister Emilys work with children, guiding them to spiritual growth.

Detail of "Ascension"

The back of Ascension.

Cave Hill Cemetery donated this marble bench near Metamorphosis as well as a bench next to Ascension. They beautifully set off both sculptures.

Home of the Innocents bronzes come home from Colorado

Don made a 2,500 mile journey this week, to get the bronze sculptures from the foundry, Art Castings of Colorado.


"Metamorphosis" and "Ascension" are loaded into the Thrifty rental van at Art Castings.


Two days later, Don and sculptures are back home. Steve McMillen helped unload "Metamorphosis" (shown) and "Ascension".



The completed sculptures are now ready to be attached to their granite bases.



Another view of the sculptures.



A photo of the morning fog...




This is a photo of a minnow in the creek with reflections of the branches overhead.