The Mother Cabrini sculpture debut on October 12, Indigenous Peoples Day

Located along the Hudson River near famous NYC landmarks such as Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the Irish Hunger Memorial, the statue of Mother Cabrini, designed by Jill and Giancarlo Biagi, joins this homage to the city’s history as part of She Built NYC’s. 

I went down to Battery Park today to check it out and it was both beautiful and moving.

Who was Mother Carbrini? She was born in Lombardy, Italy in 1850 and traveled to the United States in 1889 in order to help Italian immigrants.  She founded dozens of schools, orphanages, and hospitals focused on serving those in need. In 1946 she became the first U.S. citizen to be sainted by the Catholic Church, and in 1950 became the Patron Saint of Immigrants.

How Jil and Giancarlo Biagi became the artists behind the statue and their journey to her creation is not an easy one. Even though She Built NYC received the most votes for Mother Cabrini in their open voter’s poll, she was passed over; Governor Cuomo then stepped in and formed a state commission to fund the memorial.

Jil and Giancarlo had originally planned to begin the sculpture in Italy, but Covid-19 hit and they had to find another location near a foundry where they could have the bronze sculpture cast. The two artists finally ended up in Loveland, Colorado where they worked and completed the sculpture.

Their goal from the beginning was to incorporate facts from Mother Cabrini’s life into the sculpture. 

The boat is meant to represent a paper boat as a nod to Mother Cabrini’s childhood visiting her uncle who lived near the Venera River. She would make boats out of paper and fill them with violets, her favorite flower, and set them to sail away on the river.

The little girl in the boat holds a book to her chest, a reference to Mother Cabrini’s dedication to education. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The boy carries in his hand an instrument known as an ocarina, to represent the music and culture immigrants bring with them. 

“We are all immigrants in one way or another,” Giancarlo said. “We all share the immigrant experience.” 

“Our goal was to create a statue that would represent the persevering spirit of an extraordinary woman realizing her childhood dream,” Jill Biagi said on Monday. “The dream of helping people in need around the world.”

History combined with Public Art, throughout Covid-19 my appreciation and fascination has only grown for these two facets of life that bring meaning, that bring people together, that resonate long after.