30-foot 'gateway sculpture' planned to soar over Thames River
Aug. 5—NEW LONDON — No one can accuse artist Renèe Rhodes and her patrons at the Infinite Possibilities Project nonprofit group of having a shortage of ambition.
The Killingworth sculptor's plan to erect a 30-foot bronze and steel statue on Shore Rock off the western end of Ocean Beach took a leap forward in June with the start of a capital campaign aimed at raising enough funding to have the "gateway sculpture" in place by next year.
"This is a project that's been sacred in our hearts, one I've been conceptualizing for eight years," Rhodes said. "It's been a whole collaboration between the community, local industries, galleries and other institutions that's taken on a life of its own."
Rhodes said she's hoping to have the "Infinity" sculpture placed on the rose granite island at the mouth of the Thames River off Long Island Sound by 2024. Renderings show a towering female figure, its back arched grasping a stainless-steel illuminated infinity loop.
The proposal has been significantly modified in recent years with a change of location and the elimination of a planned second sculpture on the Groton side of the Thames River, said Robert DeRobbio, chairman of the Infinite Possibilities board.
As recently as three years ago, the New London-side sculpture was set to rise from Quinnipeag Rocks island off Pequot Avenue, but the "ire" of neighborhood locals over possible traffic congestion prompted a change of venue, DeRobbio said.
He said local businessman Keith Turner offered the new Shore Rock location about eight months ago to the excitement of board members.
"It's a great place, one where more than 1.5 million combined ferry passengers and beach-goers will see it every year," DeRobbio said.
The nonprofit launched its fundraising campaign in July with the goal of raising the $2.5 million cost of fabricating and placing the sculpture. DeRobbio said roughly $400,000 in in-kind services for the build have been pledged, along with $45,000 in donations.
The nonprofit is using a series of upcoming musical performances to raise both money and awareness for the project, DeRobbio said.
Rhodes, who created the life-sized sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena statue on Pearl Street and Eugene O'Neill Drive, said she needs about $140,000 to continue her work to create the "largest sculpture in the East Coast in the water." She said 32-inch model casts are complete and, once enough money is raised, will be enlarged to 6-foot versions that can be closely examined for distortions.
"Then, they get sent to a foundry in California where 21-foot molds are cast and welded and shipped before steel armatures are driven through the feet into micro-pilings on the island," Rhodes said.
Hygienic Art Board President A. Vincent Scarano, a member of the sculpture project's creative team, said the new location near Alewife Cove is ideal for viewing from both Ocean and Waterford beaches, as well as by river travelers.
"People are going to come to New London just to see this sculpture right on the Thames River, which has such an historic significance of its own," he said. "All our local art leaders are behind this."
Project boosters anticipate visitors will plan major life events, including weddings, at Ocean Beach for the chance to use the sculpture as a backdrop. Rhodes said she wants to use profits from those events at the "people's beach" to create a foundation dedicated to funding public service, educational and other New London-based initiatives.
She envisions the sculpture will serve as a "beacon of hope to the world" that reflects and amplifies the city's history and promise.
"And I say that without hubris," she said. "Like (Denmark's) Little Mermaid sculpture, the Statue of Liberty and the Arch of St. Louis, these kinds of pieces represent a sense of place."