The Pentagon Bas Relief Sculpture

The USA's largest cast bas relief has been created by Stromberg Architectural Products and has been installed at the Pentagon.

Purpose

The art work honors the brave individuals who serve and have served in the armed forces of the U.S. It honors the many who died, and those who supported them from home. The work is a monument to the sacrifice, spirit, and honor of the people of America. A work dedicated to those who defend our nation and those who defend the cause of peace and freedom around the world. Its goal is to honor those who served and inspire those who now serve. And to remind all Americans what the men and women of the US military have accomplished in securing our freedom and safety.

Goal:

The sculpture was created as a storyboard in high relief. The goal of the art work was to honor the brave men and women of America's military, who defend our nation and the cause of freedom. With a committee from the US Pentagon, images were selected to be recreated in bas relief.

Considerations:

• The setting
• Available space
• Human scale
• Inclusion of all participants

Steps in the sculptures creation:

Research:

• Researched the subjects as thoroughly as possible.
• Spoke with veterans and heard their stories. Take what was in their hearts and put that in our heart and then begin to work.
• Established scale, appropriateness and subjects with the committee.

Maquette:

Produced a small scale model or maquette of the proposed sculpture for the committee to "sign off on" and add comments.

Sculpting:

Created clay model in full scale bas relief

Molds:

Created silicone rubber molds of the bas relief

Casting:

Cast the sculpture in resin and marble.

Installation:

Stromberg crew delivered and installed the bas relief.

The Commemoration

The purpose was to commemorate the unique achievements of the US military and give the entire space over to telling their story. We wanted to make it inclusive of the entire organization, from the actual fighters, to nurses, engineers, mechanics and families of the military.

Family: The families of the Armed Forces are just as important, and they often make as difficult of sacrifices as those who serve. We wanted to acknowledge that valuable support that the military family members give to one another.

Caring: The humanitarian support that the US military provides is represented by a nurse caring for a baby.

Sacrifice: Is in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price to defend this country and the cause of liberty around the world.

"The work is different than many artworks; it is not a monument to war dead or a historic event. It is a celebration of the excellence in organization, devotion to duty and enthusiasm that has kept our country, and the free world, safe.We hope that this serves as a reminder to everyone who passes by that these men and women of Americas armed forces are true heroes, whether in the battlefield or in a support position. A unique organization composed of a diverse group of men and women with the common goal of defending the liberty that is so precious to all free people.It is important that there be art that commemorates the heroes among us. It has been said that when heroes are not valued, soon there will be no heroes. This bas relief is our small effort to honor those heroes."