Issue 18 OCTOBER 2013

The Wandering Muse: reflections on An Unrealistic Life

Elena Hiatt Houlihan

Issue 18

OCTOBER 2013

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A PROMISE FULFILLED: THE CIRCLE IS COMPLETE

Sometimes in one’s life a project takes longer than expected or becomes more complicated than one can possibly imagine. Such is the case with the Holocaust Sculpture conceived by the students at the Community Day School in PIttsburgh.

The project began in the mid-90’s when Bill Walter, the history teacher, wanted to impress on the students the enormity of Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust. They were given the task of collecting 6 million aluminum pop tabs. This took about 5 years, and when I first saw them, they were stored in aquariums which filled about 1/3 of the teacher’s room.

Because of my background in creating large-scale sculptures for public places, I was contacted by the school in 2001 to help the students design a sculpture using the pop tabs. With the support of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, I became the Visiting Artist at the school and worked with the students off and on through 2005.

Young designers in 2002 with their completed
clay model.
“Remember the Stars” was their original title.

Not only the title, but the location and the materials of construction were changed more than once. It was an exericise in tenacity, flexibility and patience for all of us. Sometimes we went with the flow, sometimes we chafed at the changes and the delays, but deep in our hearts, those of us who gave time and energy to the project never gave up.

And it is especially due to the dedication of Avi Baran Munro, Head of School at Community Day, that the sculpture exists today.As she said in a recent newspaper article, “Although the Nazis perverted this symbol of Jewish identity by forcing their victims to wear it as a means of separating and condemning them, our students wanted the Star of David to be restored to a symbol of pride.”

Besides Mr. Walter who shepherded the collecting and storage of the pop tabs, another dedicated professional was architect Alan Dunn, who took the students’ concepts and turned them into a working blueprint, as well as a simulated version of what the sculpture would look like.

FROM DREAM TO REALITY

Because the students wanted to pop tabs to be visible in the final sculpture, glass block “banks” with a small slit were chosen as the material.

This meant many hours of patient concen-tration on the part of students, parents and anyone we could recruit to help fill the 960 blocks required for what would now be a sculpture 42′ across and 7-9′ high.

After years of planning and soliciting donations, construction was finally begun this summer. Mr. Walter, now retired, was invited to place the first block in the steel framework.

This project has affected me like none other in my life. It is a rare piece of art that can convey a political statement, and still succeed as art, moving the viewer to deeper thoughts about the meaning of life or man’s behavior on this planet.

If you chance to be in Pittsburgh, do come to see how a collective vision can become a reality. More history of the project can be seen on my website and donations for the continuing educational programs about the sculpture can be made at www.comday.org.

Once again, remember to take care of your special selves, follow your dreams, and express your love fully to those around you.

Abrazos y besos,

Elena

INVITATION TO THE DEDICATION

The public is invited to the dedication of the:

Nancy and Gary Tuckfelt

Keeping Tabs

Holocaust Sculpture

Sunday November 3, 2013

Guests are welcome at

2 PM

Dedication Ceremony

2:30 PM

Community Day School

6424 Forward Avenue

Corner of Beechwood Blvd.

Pittsburgh, PA

Work
men put the finishing touches on the sculpture in late October.Earlier in late August, a
n emotional moment occurred when I put in the last pop tabs in the final block of the sculpture which had taken 18 years to complete. The final pop tab had what I call a “cosmic” significance.

I had been traveling in Europe in the winter of 2005, and was visiting friends in Braunau, Austria. On a walk through the town, I found myself in front of a house which turned out to be the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.

By chance, I glanced at the sidewalk, and there at my feet was an abandoned pop tab. I picked it up, labeled it in my travel journal and vowed that it would be the last poptab added to the sculpture. Since then, it stayed in the safe at the school awaiting that final moment.

NOTE: I’ve added you to my mailing list because I met you somewhere along the way
and wanted to stay in touch
…dancing tango in San Miguel, perhaps? or wandering in Oaxaca. You may even be a distant cousin I haven’t seen for years. You may have forgotten me, but I have not forgotten you. If the tales of my travels don’t spark your interest, just hit unsubscribe. OR, if this has been forwarded to you,
please click below to subscribe . Merci mille fois! Y muchas gra
cias!

MUSE BRIEFS

I can’t help but end on a note of:

I climbed into the famous Robert Indiana sculpture on a recent visit to New York City.
What a great feeling to be surrounded by both art and love simultaneously! And it’s love I feel for anyone working to fulfill a dream, for friends and family who shelter me in
my travels
, and love alone which can prevent future genocide based on difference of any kind.

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