David Beach, iron master at Fox Hollow Iron Works, watches as Julie Turano-Good tries her hand at cutting flowers for the Brian Morden Foundation sculpture, while Barbara Piper looks on. Mirror photo by Cati Keith
A local organization is creating a sculpture for a garden at Mansion Park to raise childhood cancer awareness and to honor its founder.
The Brian Morden Foundation’s 6-foot gold ribbon is a way to give back to the Altoona Area School District for its support of the 30 children and their families in the district who have been affected by cancer over the past 20 years.
The foundation was created in 2003 to honor Brian, a 19-year-old who battled Ewing’s sarcoma for more than two years.
After his death, his mother, Dawn, vowed to continue to fight against childhood cancer.
She is being honored in the sculpture for her contribution as an Altoona teacher for 34 years and for her legacy of helping families affected by childhood cancer.
David Beach, iron master at Fox Hollow Iron Works, talks with Brian Morden Foundation President Julie Turano-Good (center) and Vice President Barbara Piper about the butterfly that will be part of the ribbon sculpture honoring founder Dawn Morden at Mansion Park. Mirror photo by Cati Keith David Beach, iron master at
Dawn died in June, and the ribbon stands as a reminder of her work to make a difference in the lives of many.
For the design, a gold ribbon was chosen as it is the international awareness symbol for all forms of childhood cancer.
According to an information sheet provided by the Brian Morden Foundation, the color gold symbolizes how precious children are and the resiliency of childhood cancer heroes.
A butterfly added to the design is a metaphor for transformation and hope. It is also a symbol of rebirth and resurrection.
The iris flowers added at the bottom represent faith and hope.
David Beach from Fox Chapel Iron Works is the artist working on the sculpture.
While at the workshop on Union Avenue on Friday morning, Beach showed foundation President Julie Turano-Good and Vice President Barbara Piper the progress he was making with the butterfly.
“It’s a big butterfly, but I wanted it to really grab people’s attention,” he said.
Beach said his plan was to have the butterfly on the top corner of the ribbon and the color is still up for discussion.
He thought of making it a yellow or gold.
Piper said they are definitely going to want bright colors.
“Dawn’s favorite colors were greens and blues — maybe we can do aqua and lime green,” she said.
Turano-Good also suggested lilac purple, but not a color close to Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School’s shade of purple.
“I was thinking there is no high school messing with fuchsia,” Beach said. “Cream and fuchsia for the irises, and the greenery is going to be obnoxiously bright green.”
He said colors sometimes have to be loud to catch people’s eyes.
“With just the green, it would blend in with the roses and things in the garden already,” Turano-Good said.
When Beach goes to paint items for the sculpture, it will all get sandblasted and then get a baked-on black powder coating.
“Then I’m going to do paint work over the powder so we have a locked-in finish underneath and it’s not rusting,” he said.
The ribbon is going to be bright metallic gold with black letters on top that say “cure childhood cancer.”
“Butterflies and irises were Dawn’s thing, so we are honoring her in that way,” Piper said.
Turano-Good said where the sculpture will be located in Mansion Park, there is already a memorial plaque to Brain Morden with roses around it.
When they met AASD community relations director Paula Foreman at the park, the initial idea was to do something like a bench, she said.
However, they noticed the park already had six benches and then suggested a sculpture for the garden instead.
Foreman then suggested they visit the iron works shop, and it all took off from there.
“Dawn spent her life after her son passed away helping members in the community — we knew she would be all about the ribbon,” Piper said
“She dedicated her life to helping these children that are suffering locally,” Turano-Good said.
“It is going to be a lasting reminder of how Altoona has embraced these kids and made a difference in their lives,” Piper said.
Turano-Good said, “We want to thank Dave for all his efforts he has put into making this happen — he has gone above and beyond.”
She said working with him and his creativity has allowed their vision to come to life.
Martin Truck Bodies is donating the parts of steel and the funds for the laser cutting for the ribbon.
Beach wants to have it ready for installation once the weather permits.
Piper said being able to see the process and doing a little plasma cutting gave them an appreciation for all the work Beach is putting into it.
Turano-Good also expressed her gratitude to the Altoona Area School District for supporting children with childhood cancer not just in its district, but also in the area.
“I want those that have struggled with childhood cancer to come into Mansion Park and know people care when seeing the sculpture,” Piper said.
Since the Brian Morden Foundation’s beginning, its goals have been to raise funds that go to research for childhood cancer, support childhood cancer patients and their families, and award higher education scholarships to AAHS students and cancer survivors.
More than $300,000 has been donated to childhood cancer research.
The foundation provides gas cards for travel expenses, financial support for housing during treatment, help with bills or any other special needs.
Higher education scholarships totaling more than $70,000 have been awarded.
A new scholarship for this year will be the Dawn Morden Memorial Scholarship.
For almost 20 years, the Brian Morden Foundation has collaborated with the AASD every September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, to raise awareness in the school with the “Go for the Gold” competition and the annual Gold Ribbon Game at Mansion Park.
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A lasting tribute: Garden sculpture to honor Dawn Morden, raise awareness of childhood cancer - Altoona Mirror
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