GRAND BLANC (WJRT) -
(01/30/13) - A Mid-Michigan sculptor is creating a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook School tragedy. When it's finished, it will stand in the Connecticut State Capitol.
In her studio, Suzanne Johnson is sculpting the likeness of a little boy holding balloons on a string. It's inspired by the events in Newtown last December.
"It was overwhelming. I'm a parent and a grandparent and it's just unimaginably heartbreaking," Johnson said. She operates a sculpting and jewelry design studio.
So when she was asked to create a memorial, she gladly accepted the challenge.
"It's also very, very difficult because I feel a responsibility to portray them in this lovely way and yet they're no longer with us," Johnson said.
The figure of the boy will be joined by a statue of a girl, which has already been completed. The names of the children who died at Sandy Hook will be added to plaques on the granite bases.
"The center piece will be a wooden pillar, which will be the 'pillar of education,'" Johnson said.
That will hold a plaque with names of school staff killed in the attack. When it's finished, it will be moved to the Capitol Building in Hartford.
"They loved the idea of it," Johnson said.
She says she was honored to help create the memorial.
Hopefully this will be restorative and healing. It will be a gathering place where people can come.
Johnson sculpts with a water-based clay. It's the first step of several before it becomes a finished work of art. And she's not certain when it will be done and cast in bronze.
"It isn't finished until it's finished," she said.
Supporters of the project hope to raise $20,000 to pay for the materials and shipping costs. If you would like to help, click here.
