‘Field of Remembrance’: FGCU reflects on pandemic’s toll

 

 

 

 

AS THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC passed the one year mark in spring, this art installation and other campus events offered the FGCU community a moment to reflect on those we’ve lost to COVID-19 as well as what we’ve learned during these challenging times. “Field of Remembrance, Cathedral of Sky” featured 10,000 ceramic tributes inspired by votive candles traditionally used as prayer offerings in many faiths. Handmade by students, faculty and other volunteers, the floral shapes were placed on the Great Lawn to symbolize the magnitude of the pandemic’s toll. Representing Southwest Florida lives lost, about 2,000 were treated with a copper glaze that turned shades of green and blue when fired.

“Because they’re shaped by hand, they are not uniform,” said Professor Maria Roca, who proposed and organized the memorial along with Professor Patricia Fay. “Each person lost to COVID-19 was unique, too.”

• Read more about the memorial

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