Meg's Home of the Innocents sculpture dedication

There was a Preview Party on the day after the sculpture installation, that was shown on the last post. Sharon Receveur hosted it at her house, and that would be a blog posting unto itself (except that we came away from it without pictures to share). Great food and great company, what else can you say - except that it's something that I'll remember the rest of my life.

The unveiling and dedication of Meg's Home of the Innocents Children's Memorial markers was scheduled on Sunday, November 1 at 2 p.m. The event began with a welcome from sharon Receveur (on the left), and then remarks by Home of the Innocents CEO Gordon Brown. This photo includes Linda Speed, who was one of the main forces in the project, as well.

Ciaran Brown played Sister Emily cooper alongside 4 child actors, in a production called "Remember Me".

There was an unveiling of a historical marker at the site by Becky Riddle of the Kentucky Historical Society.

Prayers and blessings were led by Rabbi Stanley Miles of Temple Shalom and Bishop Reed (both on right of photo). There was a Choral performance by the Ballard High School Madrigal Singers. Then, Sharon presented the artist, Meg white, who spoke a few words.

The sculpture was unveiled...

...and the doves released!

Home of the Innocents sculpture installation

Monday was the scheduled day to install Meg's Home of the Innocents sculptures in Cave Hill Cemetery.

Steve McMillen (in the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife jacket) met us at the studio with the first light of day. We disassembled the sculptures and prepared them for the journey to Cave Hill. I recognized Johnny (on the right), who has worked for Bill Brummett Monument Company since 1985. It was a good feeling to have experienced help on this installation - I knew it was going to be a tough one.

Paul Roerig, the new owner of Brummett Monument Company, had provided his 1 ton truck for transporting the bronzes. They were safely snuggled on a mattress with lots of packing blankets.

After making the trip from the studio to Cave Hill, we began the installation by setting a granite base. Cave Hill had previously installed concrete footers - they had done a great job!

Next, we placed the 1 ton, lettered plinth.

Then came the most dreaded part of the job - getting the straps out from under the heavy plinth, and making a seal with monument putty between the stones. But, I had picked a great crew, and there were no mishaps.

Michael Higgs, of the Heritage Foundation, and Sharon Receveur, the committee chairperson, were just in time to see us install "Ascension" onto the stone bases.

The next site required the use of these fiberglas boards, so that the truck wouldn't leave ruts in the soft ground. Actually, we are moving the boards over, so that we can back Paul's truck beside the crane, to unload the 2nd bronze sculpture.

The granite base and plinth were set, just like at the other site. Here, we are installing "Metamorphosis".

The final stage of the installation involved pinning and epoxying 3 bronze plaques to each of the 2 monuments.

After attaching the stainless steel pins and spreading on a 2 part epoxy, I push the 70 lb. plaques into position.

We applied pressure to the plaques using ratchet straps, so that there was no chance of the plaques slipping out of position while the epoxy set. We left them on, over night, as the epoxy had a long cure time (the longer the cure time, the stronger the bond).

Meg snapped this shot of a HUGE mushroom, while we were zipping up the last of the work. You can see that it was twilight before we were through. We started our day in darkness, and ended it in darkness. Everyone was exhausted, by the time we got through. But, it looks like we had the pick of the week for weather. We got lucky, when we needed it most.