Contact:
Mary Ann Gillis
(425) 349-8122
EVERETT – January 21, 2003 – Nationally acclaimed sculptor Hai Ying Wu unveiled his gift to Compass Health this month, a touching bronze relief sculpture of children innocently and courageously crossing a stream. The sculpture adorns the exterior entrance of Compass Health’s Luther Children’s Crisis Facility, a short-term residential crisis facility for 7-14 year-old children who are working through emotional crises in their young lives.
“I felt I needed to contribute to Compass Health’s mission for the Luther Children’s Crisis Facility,” said Wu. “In China, we don’t have facilities like this for children who are abused or emotionally troubled, and they end up on the streets. I live in both societies and compare them all the time. I am so thankful we have this facility here for the children who need help. Our children are the future of our society and we need facilities like this. I am glad to contribute my art as a way to make people more aware of how important this mission is.”
The
life-size sculpture depicts a young boy who has crossed a creek over stones and
is reaching back to encourage his dog and his sister to follow. She is balancing barefooted on a stone in
the middle of the creek, proceeding carefully with shoes held high in each
hand, to keep them from getting wet. Wu says the sculpture symbolizes balance,
courage and responsibility learned in childhood. He hopes it will help children who arrive at the Luther
Children’s Crisis Facility gain a sense of comfort and encouragement to face
their futures with the balance, courage and responsibility they will need to
overcome their emotional issues now and throughout their lives.
This is the first sculpture
the artist has done featuring children.
His second will be a commissioned sculpture completed this fall titled
‘Hide and Seek,’ for the Everett Children’s Museum. Wu is best known in the Pacific Northwest for sculpting the
Seattle Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, though he
has erected similar fire fighter memorials in Renton, Redmond and Mercer Island
and also sculpted the United Auto Workers Memorial in Toledo. He currently is completing a large Veterans
Memorial sculpture for the State of Colorado.
Wu
immigrated to the United States from China in 1989, and took what work he could
in construction jobs and as a dishwasher before being admitted to the Master’s
degree program at the University of Washington School of Art. He knows what
it’s like to struggle and survive, and now has a 10-year-old daughter of his
own. The sculptor divides his time
between homes in Everett and China, where bronze foundries cast most of his
work.
“Art
is the best form to help people release what they can’t always speak out,” said
Wu. “There is a connection between art
and mental health. It is spiritual and
gives us a sense of peace. It is a form of meditation,” he said.
“As an artist, if one piece
of my art can get one person to be inspired, to receive a message and a feeling
of hope for the future, I will be very happy.”
Compass
Health’s sculpture can be seen on the agency’s children’s counseling campus
located at 4526 Federal Avenue in Everett.
The site, the original home of the Parkland Lutheran Children’s Home
orphanage, from which Compass Health has its origins, is one of 35 counseling
sites Compass Health operates throughout Snohomish, Skagit, Island and San Juan
Counties.
The
Luther Children’s Crisis Facility opened in July 2002 with the help of numerous
charitable donations made by others who share Wu’s interest in the non-profit
behavioral health agency’s mission of serving children’s emotional and
behavioral needs. Support for the
crisis facility includes $20,000 each from EverTrust Bank and the Northwest
Children’s Fund, $10,000 from the Wood Family Foundation, more than $10,000
from the Lutheran Community Foundation and Lutheran Brotherhood congregation
members, and $5,000 each from Nordstrom and Fred Meyer corporations. The Hai Ying Wu sculpture is valued at
$15,000.
Compass Health served the
emotional and behavioral health needs of nearly 20,000 families, children,
adults and older adults in 2002. For
more information about Compass Health, visit www.compasshealth.org.
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