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For immediate release
Media contact: Suzanne Winchester
swinchester@letter23.com
801.201.1190/801.983.9266
27 March 2009 – New Utah State patriotic monument finds a home.
The UTAH FREEDOM MEMORIAL, (UFM) a state monument that is designed to educate youth as to the cost of freedom and honor all of Utah’s military, has finally found its official site location.
The Sandy City promenade green space area will be home to this statewide monument. Concluding a venue site selection and review process that took nearly two years to complete, the Sandy City location received their notice yesterday.
“Sandy City is the ‘population center’ of the state and the multi-acre promenade green space will be a wonderful location for this much needed monument,” said Daniel Bolz, project coordinator.
Twelve locations were reviewed, from Liberty Park in SLC to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. The four finalists were Ft. Douglas, West Jordan City Memorial Park, South Towne Expo Center and the Sandy City promenade.
The UFM Executive Committee reviewed nine site factors used to make the final decision. These nine factors were:
- Ease of securing site
- Reverence
- Traffic flow
- Aesthetics
- Sponsorship draw
- Future growth issues
- Viability
- Logistic Advantage
- Central state location
Tony Galvez, co-chair of the committee, said of the decision, “all of the potential venue sites had some strong elements. This was not an easy decision to make. We feel that the Sandy City location offers the most favorable long-term solution to the overall objectives of this monument.”
“We wish to sincerely thank each and every site location and the people who we met with in this long process. We know that many sites were most anxious to have their location selected for this wonderful patriotic monument to freedom, but in the end, we needed to select just one,” said Scott Trudo, co-chair of the committee.
Monument Arts selected affiliate sculptor Lena Torrich to do all the bronze sculpting on the monument. Dan Cummings was selected to create all the images on the black granite.
Lena Toritch mastered anatomy, composition, and technique skills as a graduate student (MFA) at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts in Russia, her home town. But the drive for perfection in her work is rooted in her upbringing amid the art-enriched culture of Russia. Lena’s father, a professional sculptor, challenged the young girl to always improve on her work through studying great masters of the past and learning to see the world with an artist’s eye.
Granted “Artist of Exceptional Ability” status, Toritch has been working in the United States for the past 15 years as a partner in Young Fine Art Studio. Her commissions come from all over the country for private, corporate, and public collections; her bronzes have been displayed in a number of international shows.
Dan Cummings, owner of Spectrum Studios in SLC, has been a professional artist for over 25 years. He studied art at the University of Utah and now specializes in etched and carved glass as well as granite. Cummings has several commissioned sculptures on the Utah State University campus. He has completed numerous private and public commissions throughout his career. Dan is sought out for his unique treatment of glass and interpretation of highly creative challenges in granite. Some of his granite etching work can be seen at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
See UFM Rendering
Suzanne Winchester
Public Relations Director
Letter23
157 Pierpont Avenue
SLC UT 84101
801.983.9266
swinchester@letter23.com
