Sculpture will spark conversations, bring people together in Medina

UB architecture students create memorial to honor Sydney Gross, who is remembered for vibrant personality

Photos by Tom Rivers: A new sculpture with 23 precast concrete modules was unveiled on Friday at the Lions Park along the Erie Canal in Medina just east of the lift bridge on Route 63.

MEDINA – The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning accepted the challenge: create a memorial for a former student that would be engaging, reflecting the ebullient personality of the late Sydney Gross.

Gross was a student in the program who left a strong impression on her professors and the other students. She was a very social person who was friends with everyone. She was killed in a car accident in July 2009.

Gross’s family has donated to projects at the UB School of Architecture and Planning in Sydney’s name. They have funded part of a lecture series, paid for the travel of UB students to compete at the solar decathlon in Italy, and also a 10-year alumni symposium.

The family wanted a sculpture in memory of Sydney, a project that would challenge the UB students and also have an end result of bringing people together.

A new sculpture with 23 pieces was unveiled on Friday in Medina along the Erie Canal. It’s close to the Big Apple sculpture on the north side of the canal, just east of the lift bridge on Route 63.

Lori Duckstein smiles after a ribbon-cutting and is thrilled with the new sculpture in memory of her daughter.

Lori Duckstein, Sydney’s mother, commended the UB students and their professors for bringing the sculpture to reality. They worked more than a year on it, including brainstorming sessions with Medina High School art students in Jen Scott’s classes.

“I’m happy with the execution of it,” Duckstein said on Friday, when she made her first visit to Medina. “We want kids to be outside and having fun.”

Sydney is from New Jersey near New York City. She never was in Medina. But she was always welcoming to others, looking to build connections. In that sense, Medina is the ideal location, her mother said.

She thanked the Medina community for accepting the sculpture in a prominent spot in the community.

“It’s in a beautiful town that’s along the canal,” Duckstein said. “It’s accessible.”

The UB students and their professors installed the pieces on Monday and Wednesday, using a forklift. The pieces are several hundred pounds to several thousand. They are arranged in clusters to create a furniture setting.

The arrangement is designed for recreation, reflection, and relaxation for anyone traveling on the canal or trail or as a local resident enjoying the canalside park.

Graduate students in the architecture program at the University of Buffalo met with Medina art students in Jennifer Scott’s class in this photo from February. The UB students met to discuss possibilities of a sculpture as a playground area with artistic elements. One idea shown in the photo called for a “forest of flutes” where people could make sounds and music from flutes. There would also be rocks or stone walls that could be used to make music, too. UB and medina students sketched out many ideas with the goal to not have a static sculpture but create something that would be experiential.

Medina High School Art Teacher Jen Scott said her students benefited from being part of the discussion and seeing the create process from the UB students and their professors.

“The creativity was palpable in the art room!” she exclaimed. “The graduate students from the Architecture Department at UB were engaging and collaborative while working with the high school students. It was exciting to see ideas flying as well as empowering to see the high school students offering their input.”

UB professors Joyce Hwang and Chris Romano also met with the Medina students, and so did Joana Pires Pacheco from the New York Power Authority. They helped the high school students understand the scope of the project commemorating Sydney Gross.

“Remembering and honoring her through this public art installation serves as a landmark that all community members in Medina can enjoy,” Scott said. “Whether students visit the installation for photos, boaters on the canal use it as a landmark, or community members picnic and play there, it will be a powerful public space that will be enjoyed for future generations.”

University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning professors Christopher Romano and Joyce Hwang were professors for Sydney Gross and led the students in creating the sculpture.

“She was a very social student who was connected to everyone,” Hwang said about Sydney. “She will be bringing people together in a new way.”

Romano said the project was very ambitious for 43 students that worked on the sculptures. They created the “curvaceous objects” that are sanded and shaped concrete with bent steel inside.

The 23 modules weigh 25,000 pounds. They also put in 26 tons of stone and sand for the site work about a month ago.

“They aren’t just for sitting,” Romano said about the sculptures. “It’s a conversation starter and a community builder. We hope it brings the public to the canal.”

The UB School of Architecture and Planning worked with the New York Power Authority, the Canal Corporation and Village of Medina officials on the project, as well as the Medina art students.

“It was a project that required us to connect with many people and bridge together many state agencies,” Hwang and Romano said. “In the end, the result is a project that has touched many people’s lives with the ambition to touch many more as they stop for a reflective moment along the Erie Canal.”

UB architecture students are excited and happy at the ribbon-cutting for the new sculptures.