Our @followers have a great opportunity to acquire an award winning cold cast
sculpture, and help #themonumentalproject
at the same time.
A chance meeting in April 2022 in Chicago led to great things. Gina Denham, co-founder of our association, met Stuart Stefany at a dedication for James H. Cleggett , USS Morning Light. We have to give credit to James because the long departed veteran influenced the creation of an incredible bespoke sculpture. Destiny truly lent its hand in that meeting. Stuart is an Art Teacher, descendant of Civil War Veterans, who is well versed in the nuances of classic art - in every way he was the right person to create a monument to honor UK-based veterans of the American Civil War. Fate was very kind to us. Stuart followed our brief to the letter and created, after weeks of pro bono labour, a wonderful eye-catching conversation piece. Its choc full of nuance and meaning making, filled with the essence of Stuart’s personality. He put his heart and soul into the project, and that respect for our endeavour can clearly be seen.
Three figures are at the heart of the relief. They represent the men and women who lived in the United Kingdom after the Civil War. People of all nations, black or white, who had directly served in or been affected by the conflict. Branchs of service on land and sea are also represented. The woman represents those who served and the widows, too. Behind them are the outlines of those who we will never know who served and have been lost to history.
It also includes a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Junior , “We have shared the incommunicable experience of war, we have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youth our hearts were touched with fire”.
As folk have learnt, UK based veterans who came to the country at the close of the American Civil War have been largely overlooked in the narrative of those who conflict and those who served. We want to change that by raising awareness and a monument too. Socrates spoke of “Entelechy” making ‘actual’ what was once just ‘potential’ and this sculpture is characteristic of that philosophy. It is unique, focuses on a small group of people in the United Kingdom, and would never have been created had that chance meeting not taken place. Now you have a chance to own a piece of Civil War history and help
.
You can make he p us get ever closer to ‘actual’ in the process of building a monument in the UK. Whilst we have raised over £4000 we still remain in the ‘potential’ stage because of the costs involved in creating a monument befitting those we seek to honor.
Stuart Stehonors sculpture.
We know times are hard financially, so even if you cannot bid. Please consider sharing this post/Ebay link and play your part in making actual, what was just potential. Thank you. The Monuments team.
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