Read the previous articles about the Monument of the Americas HERE and HERE.
The concept of a Monument of the Americas park has been simmering in Steven Lloyd Neal’s spirit for 25 years—and now he is doing the work of casting the statues into the heroic forms they will take on a 10-acre park that overlooks the Heber Valley.
It is magnificent in every way and a legacy of our generation to the next that we knew and understood the Book of Mormon and the covenant upon this land. Our testimonies will stand in bronze and marble.
Join with other Meridian readers in raising funds for the Title of Liberty sculpture by CLICKING HERE.
A people who have forgotten the importance of our foundation have taken Washington’s painting out of the Christchurch in Alexandria where he attended meetings, but Neal and those who support him will put George Washington where he belongs—right at the center of our nation’s founding.
Of course, above all, will be a statue of Jesus Christ, standing atop a waterfall that flows over the pages of the Book of Mormon, for without Him there is no promise, there is no nation.
With its 50 figures, its carved scenes of the Book of Mormon and its breathtaking views, its fountains and walkways, the park must be conveyed to you in several articles to capture its magnitude.
We need your help to do pull this masterpiece of a park off. Every generation who has left something of value, beauty and truth have sacrificed to do it.
The budget for this park will be upwards of $20 million, but we, at Meridian, have asked if, with our readers, together, we could fund the casting and placement of the Title of Liberty that stands at the center of an immense plaza. We’re trying to raise $250,000 and we have matching funds to double that to $500,000. You can help in this GoFundMe by clicking here.
The statue we hope to fund is of Moroni standing on the throat of the dragon of tyranny while he hoists the Title of Liberty into the air. This flag with its words “in memory of our God, our religion, our freedom, our peace, our wives, our children” shades into the American flag. Below this are those who made this nation a protected place where the covenant could flourish. There’s Lady Liberty, a baby, depicting the new nation, George Washington, and soldiers from the Civil War, World War II and Afghanistan.
This isn’t the only place George Washington appears. Neal says, “Within the Monument of the Americas is a subset garden, the American Covenant Garden which celebrates the founding of America. This wouldn’t be complete without due attention to George Washington, the father of our country.
“All historians agree that without him, there would have been no United States. But historians disagree about the role of religious devotion and divine help Washington received in the making of our nation. In fact, some secular historians dismiss the notion that Washington prayed at Valley Forge or prayed at all for that matter.
“My approach to George Washington was to feature him in a big way. He’s 7-feet tall on his knees praying at Valley Forge.
Neal continued, “I went to Mount Vernon more than once to study in the museum there to document exactly how George Washington would’ve looked at Valley Forge. I sculpted his face multiple times: twice for this prayer at Valley Forge and twice for the ‘Title of Liberty’.
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“I also read Gilbert Stuart’s description of Washington as he painted the official portrait—such as his huge masseter muscles that he would clench incessantly. Also, he had very large orbits. He avoided smiling because he had false teeth carved from ivory and poorly fitted. Nearly all of his teeth were gone, a common thing in the colonial days.
“I also tried to leave a few smallpox scars on his face, from his contracting the disease in his youth in Barbados while staying there with his older half-brother. Lawrence was afflicted by tuberculosis and tried unsuccessfully to regain his health in a warmer clime. Lawrence died of his disease and bestowed his estate of Mount Vernon to his little brother George.”
Thus, a praying George Washington, as you’ve seen him pictured in the painting about Valley Forge, will be in the American Covenant Garden, as well.
Won’t you please help fund the Title of Liberty statue for the new Monument of the Americas park? Let us stand together for the foundation we know was divinely inspired. If we don’t, who else do we look to? This will be a place where, free of charge, people can be moved to remember, to contemplate and to grow. Programs will be held in the nearby center. But certainly, the centerpiece in this part of the park is the Title of Liberty statue, a monument that says this is what we believe.
Please join in raising the Title of Liberty, please Click Here.