St. E’s bronze sculpture will memorialize COVID-19 pandemic era
YOUNGSTOWN — Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital will install a COVID-19 memorial to recognize the challenges Mahoning Valley, the country and the world has faced throughout the pandemic.
The announcement from Mercy Health-Youngstown and the Mercy Health Foundation-Mahoning Valley was made on Thursday, exactly one year after the region reported its first coronavirus case and one year after the World Health Organization announced the pandemic.
Paul Homick Jr., president of the Mercy Health Foundation-Mahoning Valley, said it’s important for the community to have a place where everyone can come to remember everything people lived through together during the pandemic.
“None of us would have thought that a year ago that we would be standing here one year later talking about a pandemic still in the midst of the pandemic,” Homick added.
The memorial at the hospital will permanently observe the global pandemic and represent a tribute to the loved ones lost and we continue to lose. It will also recognize health care heroes in the community.
He called the memorial a "place that we as a community can historically remember what we’ve all encountered and been through together."
The central element of the memorial will be a bronze sculpture by Timothy Schmalz, a renowned artist with international installations at churches, cathedrals and the Vatican. The sculpture, titled “When I Was Sick,” is part of a series by Schmalz. The same sculpture is in the hospital of Santo Spirito in Rome, Italy.
Homick said “When I Was Sick” is the centerpiece of the memorial for the pandemic because it depicts Jesus Christ when he was sick and in a reclined state.
“It’s actually very moving,” Homick said. “It encapsulates the sickness and the heartache and the hurt that people experienced during the pandemic.”
The sculpture at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital will be one of six Schmalz sculptures that have been or will be installed in the Mahoning Valley, including “Homeless Jesus” at St. Columbia Cathedral, “When I Was Naked” at St. John’s Episcopal Church and “When I was Hungry and Thirsty” at First Presbyterian Church.
There are other organizations looking to install the last two sculptures in the series. When all the sculptures are installed, Youngstown will be one of the few cities in the world to have all six sculptures.
The sculpture will cost about $150,000 and will be funded by donations to the Mercy Health Foundation-Mahoning Valley.
The sculpture is expected to be installed by September. Three plaques will also be installed at the site: one honoring caregivers, one serving as a permanent historical marker and one as a memorial to all those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic including those who lost their lives to it.
The memorial will also include a time capsule that will be opened on March 11, 2120, one hundred years from the date of the pandemic.
COVIDThis story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 4:45 AM with the headline "St. E’s bronze sculpture will memorialize COVID-19 pandemic era."