On Monday, June 24,
2013 at 10:00
a.m., the public is invited to attend
the revealing of George Rivera’s bronze statue “Hometown Hero,” which depicts
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Leroy Petry. The ceremony will be held on the South
Lawn of City Hall at 200 Lincoln
Avenue, Santa
Fe, New
Mexico.
Santa Fean SFC Petry began his
military career in 1999 as an Army Ranger. In 2008, while deployed in
Afghanistan, Petry and
his regiment were engaged in combat to potentially capture a high-value target.
During this battle, the SFC Petry disregarded his safety, picked up a live
grenade and tossed it away from his fellow Rangers--amputating his right hand.
In 2011, President Obama acknowledged this selfless sacrifice by awarding our
“Hometown Hero” the Medal of Honor.
Pueblo of Pojoaque Governor and
sculptor, George Rivera pays homage to Petry’s persistently optimistic outlook
by capturing the Medal of Honor recipient’s warm smile and extended hand in his
sculpture.
City Hall, in the heart of
Santa Fe, is the perfect
location for the piece; Rivera says, “…that gesture of shaking hands is going to
be a positive thing for people that come to Santa
Fe—whether they’re originally from
Santa Fe and locals…or
whether they’re visitors from another state or another country; that gesture is
universal.”
Governor Rivera and the Pueblo of Pojoaque donated “Hometown Hero” to the
Petry family, who then generously donated it to the City of Santa
Fe. Hear more comments from the artist
at the City of Santa Fe’s YouTube account:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VsF9Ueja_I.
Below are photos of Pueblo of
Pojoaque Governor and Sculptor, George Rivera taken June 20th at the
installation.
No comments:
Post a Comment