Art Center College of Design and Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee jointly announced the winning design for a new public memorial to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Catherine Menard, 26, a student of Art Center College of Design is the winner . Her presentation was viewed as inspiring and one that will have a deep and a lasting impact on the community.
The memorial will be constructed at Memorial Park, Pasadena, and is expected to be completed by April 24, 2015.
Menard's central design concept described in the college's official website is as follows:
"A carved-stone basin of water straddled by a tripod arrangement of three columns leaning into one another-is a single drop of water that falls from the highest point every three seconds, each "teardrop" representing one life lost."
It is said that by the end of a year, 1.5 million tears would have fallen into the pool that represents the number of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Menard's submission was one of the 17 design concepts submitted to the committee, which included works by seasoned professionals too. She developed this concept during her College's social impact design program last year.
She won the competition after beating her fellow classmate J.D. Clark.
Committee Chair, William M. Paparian, Esq., an attorney and former Mayor of Pasadena said that Menard developed and presented an emotionally compelling design for a historical event.
Menard, of French Cajun heritage, was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. She currently resides in Pasadena.
Menard said that she had only little knowledge of Armenian history but worked hard to learn everything about the genocide for this competition.
