As a tribute to those who have never been allowed to see the light of day, Mount Alverno Retreat Centre has undertaken its Sculpture to the Unborn project.
The artwork at the Caledon, Ont., retreat centre comprises a life-sized wooden carving of a faceless pregnant woman. The issue now is finding financial support for the project.
“Like most things we do, (the money’s) going to come from individuals and small groups,” said Capuchin Brother Alan Gaebel, who spearheaded the $3,400 project. “We’re just over the halfway mark and anything that we get that exceeds the actual cost will be put towards some kind of landscaping or gardening around it so that it will still be focused on the presentation of that statue.”
The bulk of the funds to date have come from the Knights of Columbus’ Humber Valley council, which has offered $1,000. Other smaller donations have been made by the two branches of Catholic Women’s League of Canada, St. Timothy parish in Orangeville, Ont., and St. Philip Neri parish in Toronto, as well as various other regular benefactors.
While the location of the statue, expected to stand almost two metres, has yet to be determined, its intended message is etched in Gaebel’s mind.
“It’s just a female presence that is expected to cause us to stop and think,” said Gaebel. “So many people have sometimes negative expressions of life, it’s not this and not that, and we just wanted to say something different. We wanted to say that life is a positive thing.”
The idea came about during the centre’s fall 2011 advisory board meeting as members sought a means to promote the culture of life.
“For me a culture of life includes the pro-life issue but it also includes our response to elder abuse, our response to domestic violence,” said Gaebel, who also sits on the centre’s provincial council. “It also includes our response to the mistreatment of animals and so forth.”
A sculpture was suggested and Gaebel grabbed the reins.
While there is an obvious emphasis on the unborn, Gaebel said the statue represents more than just the pro-life movement.
“I see it beyond pro-life. It reaches much further and more generally into our relationship with creation.”
Using chainsaws, power tools and chisels, the statue will be carved by Orangeville’s Jim Menken.
“It was kind of interesting to be part of the selection process and sending in drawings,” said Menken, selected over two other carvers. “Being a Christian myself, I was glad that I was able to participate in it too, to celebrate the unborn and be part of that.”
The actual carving process should take somewhere between a few days to a week followed by staining and clear coating.
“I never know until I get into it,” he said, adding that he expects to get started in August.
Menken has completed more than 100 carvings since picking up the craft part-time in 2002 while working as a private Christian school teacher.
Two years later his summer hobby turned into a full-time job as commissions from the Town of Orangeville and the City of Mississauga, along with private residents, began to pile up.