GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park plans to dedicate a Holocaust memorial gifted by The Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids.
We’re told the monument, titled Ways to Say Goodbye by Ariel Schlesinger, was donated by the Pestka family in their father’s memory.
The dedication ceremony is scheduled to take place Thursday, June 30.
“Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is extremely honored to dedicate Ariel Schlesinger’s beautiful sculpture Ways to Say Goodbye and the surrounding memorial site,” says President & CEO David Hooker. “We are deeply grateful for this gift adding such an important work of art to our permanent collection, which is dedicated in memory of Henry Pestka and the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.”
The monument is described as an aluminum fig tree with glass shards affixed to its branches, symbolizing the massacre and endurance of Jews during World War II.
“Our community will forever benefit from this extraordinary gift which serves to educate and promote peace,” Hooker adds.
