The Leslie-Lohman Gallery is pleased to be able to display the bronze maquette of the Freedom to Love Momument as proposed by Cassandra. This important work will be on view for an extended period. If you are in the NYC Soho area please stop by to see this splendid work.

In October 1999, Cassandra and LLGAF held a raffle for "The Memorial" (pictured above) to help raise money for models and casting the lesbian portion, "The Portal," of "The Freedom to Love Monumentt." Tickets were $10 each. The maquette is cast in bronze.

The drawing for the winning ticket was held at the Leslie-Lohman Gallery on Sunday, October 3, 1999 at 2 PM. The winning ticket was drawn by Wayne Snellen, Director of LLGAF. The winner was George Tolleson of North Carolina who lives with his lover and is a sculptor himself. George purchased 5 tickets via the LLGAF website. Congratulations, George!

LLGAF and Cassandra would also like to thank George for supplying us with these nine excellent digital photos of the sculpture.

CASSANDRA

Born in New York City in 1964, Cassandra is an emerging artist who has shown at the Chopo Museum in Mexico City. Drawn to Mexico by its vast cultural wealth, she received her BA in sculpture from the Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking and painted murals with the workshop, "Ojos de Lucha." Her first monument dedicated to 500 years of indigenous resistance was unveiled by Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Mechu at the World Summit of Indigenous Peoples.

She is currently designing two larger-than-life bronzes for the Freedom to Love Monument. One, as pictured above, is the gay male portion. She is now working on the female lesbian portion. The maquette is signed and numbered. The edition of thirty includes golden brown, black and dark green patinas.

She is represented by the East/West Gallery in London.

Background and appeal for support...

Slated to be exhibited in New York City, these groundbreaking works will shatter the silence of millenniums by erecting a monument of positive images larger-than-life bronze sculptures of two men and two women loving. These icons will comprise the Freedom to Love Monument Project with "The Memorial," a life-affirming monument dedicated to the gay men who have died of AIDS (see above). It portrays two men weathering the onslaught of the disease and prejudice by forming a protective harbor of love and union in which to celebrate themselves.

The women-focused piece, "Portal,"  is a work in progress of comparable dynamic strength and vitality. This sculpture depicts the beauty and power of women loving: discovering themselves and each other. It consciously defies convential female iconography by emphasizing women's autonomy and aesthetic diversity.

Up to now, the sculptor, Cassandra, has incurred all the expenses of this ambitious and costly undertaking, including the bronze casting of "The Memorial's" maquette or model (see above). However, completion of the maquette for the woman-focused piece has been thwarted by a lack of funds to rent studio space, hire models and provide the sculptor with time to sculpt. This impasse is virtually bringing this historical endeavor to a standstill.
 

Cassandra states that, "Last week, I was informed off-the-record by a member of the panel of the Manhattan Community Art Fund that because of the Mapplethorpe affair, I should not bother to apply since no government agency would consider funding the Freedom to Love Monument Project. When I said, 'That's censorship,' she agreed and suggested I seek private funding.""This anecdote sadly illustrates the prevailing mood among the custodians of our tax-dollars earmarked for funding the arts. Nonetheless, I am confident that those individuals and organizations committed to the freedom to love and the freedom of expression will rally together to assure the creation of these pithy icons that explore how intimacy is deeply political and an undeniable dimension of our liberation."

At this crucial juncture, your support will make all the difference. Please think broadly about how you could contribute to the creation of this major lesbian icon. Economic help is, of course, welcome, but in-kind contributions like NYC studio space, frequent flyer tickets or a laptop could also be definitive. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law since Circum-Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit organization acts as the project's fiscal conduit. Regardless of its magnitude, any contribution would be greatly appreciated.

You can contact Cassandra at: Cassandra, P.O. Box 1136, New York, NY 10276-1136 or by e-mail at LLGAF.