Palm Springs Pride to unveil Pride Monument next week
City News Service
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Greater Palm Springs Pride will unveil an eight-foot-tall monument commemorating the contributions of the LGBT community in the Greater Palm Springs area, slated for next week at Frances Stevens Park.
The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Oct. 17 at 500 N. Palm Canyon Drive, near the corner of Alejo Road and Indian Canyon Drive.
Attendees will include Mayor Ron deHarte, Al Jones, president of the Pride monument Board of Directors, Gary Armstrong, Palm Springs Art Commission chair, Palm Springs Human Rights Commission Chair Hugo Loyola, sculpture artist Jim Isermann, community members, activists and supporters.
“This monument is more than just an incredible piece of art, it is a permanent and visible symbol of our community’s history, courage and unwavering spirit,” deHarte said in a statement.
The mayor added that the monument will also serve as a gathering place and an educational tool highlighting the contributions of the LGBT community.
The stainless steel sculpture, created by Isermann, features three symbols of solidarity, including lamba, triangle and the rainbow.
The monument measures 14 feet at its widest point, and includes 720 stainless steel modules painted in different colors that form a single structure.
It will also feature a triangular design inspired by the pink triangle used during the Holocaust that was reclaimed as a symbol of gay liberation in the early 1970s.
Its color scheme is inspired by Gilbert Baker’s 1978 rainbow flag design.
The ceremony will mark the formal donation of the monument by the organization to the city’s permanent public art collection, officials said.