Ruth Mueseler: Putting Her Heart Into Her Work – July/Aug 1999

Ruth Mueseler, NWSSA member from Bellingham, Washington, has won the commission to create a Children’s Memorial. The monument will provide the kind of solace grieving mothers need in dealing with the loss of their children. Ruth’s proposal consists of a ring of five slabs of green shale surrounding a white-granite woman, prostate on the ground. The sculpture is a direct indication of a grieving woman’s experience over losing her child. Ruth will polish the shale slabs into seats so the sculpture can be a meeting place as well as a monument.

A core group of seven bereaved mothers have created “The Mother’s Memorial Fund” and are raising $20,000 for this commemorative site. Individual contributions can be made. The City of Bellingham supports the memorial project and is providing the land for it at the Bayview Cemetery. A model of the memorial will be placed in the lobby of Bellingham City Hall with a display of stories of the children. The community’s grief over the three young people killed at the Whatcom Creek pipeline explosion last June has stressed the need for this remembrance.

Ruth designed the memorial based on suggestions from the mothers. “A way to heal the soul,” is how Ruth describes stone carving. She is quoted in an article in The Bellingham Herald, “There is something about stone that has kind of a quiet wisdom if you take enough time. Stone has for me just such a strong calming effect.” Ruth plans to start carving August 1st with a ceremony in which each woman from the group blesses the white granite that will become the figure of the woman.