Client: Neurocrine Biosciences

Overview

Monumental Moments – The Hug is a nearly 10-foot-tall bronze sculpture that immortalizes the monumental times everyone has experienced during the pandemic and celebrates the human spirit, the resilience of the mental health community and all those who have been impacted by the pandemic. The sculpture depicts two adults and a child in an embrace, and the green ribbon woven throughout represents the importance of continued mental health awareness and support, while highlighting the significance of last year’s Mental Illness Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day. Performing during the reveal was the internationally renowned, Boston-based Me2/Orchestra, the world’s only known classical music organization created specifically for individuals living with mental illness and the people who support them.

Goals

Art can help bring people together, and I hope the sculpture will remind us all that we can overcome these difficult times as a community. The creation of Monumental Moments was to create a unifying symbol that could be shared and give hope in a moment where everyone who wanted to hug their loved ones, couldn't.

Process

The sculpture was created with a mould by using innovative 3D printing with injected wax so the piece went straight to the lost wax method and was cast in bronze. The piece passed hands through a large team of the UAP foundry, where the wax original was perfected and prepared for casting, then it was cast with molten bronze, followed by assembly and perfection of the surface, and then the final golden-brown patina was burned into the bronze.

Additional Information

Inspired by the hundreds of stories shared on MonumentalMoments.com over the past year, the sculpture was unveiled on October 7 2021, to coincide with Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 3-9) and ahead of World Mental Health Day (October 10) at New York City’s iconic Lincoln Center.