/ CASA GRANDE MEMORIAL

The Casa Grande Memorial Plaza, surrounded by large beautiful trees, highlights life and affirms our connection with and the healing powers of nature. Conceptually, the Plaza is a place honoring and recalling the sacred and holy, the divine and universal, the act of acceptance, the miracle of memory and the qualities of gratitude, faith, service, courage, humility and pride.

These words are woven throughout the design of the Plaza, and within this space, working within the framework of these concepts, the environment and the space's public function, I am creating tall columns of cylindrical cast-glass "plaques," each bearing in relief lettering the name of a fallen employee of the City of Casa Grande.

The columns stand more than 7' high, 2.5' in diameter, each with 15 cast-glass plaques stacked atop a steel base and interspersed with steel bands and plaques in blues and greens. By day, the frosted glass captures sunlight in a soft glow, and by night, the columns are lit from withinÑsilent beacons through darkness.

I've invited the families of these fallen heroes to participate in making the plaques that honor their loved onesÑone plaque for the columns and one for each family home.

In this way, Transcendence allows people to connect with the site physically, emotionally and spiritually, helping the healing process and creating a deep, transcendent bond that links the art, the Plaza, the families it honors and the larger community.