NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John C. Stennis Space Center
(228) 688-3341 April 8, 2004 Paul Foerman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000
JTE-04-029
NASA News Chief
(228) 688-3341
RENOWNED MOSAIC MURALIST CREATES ASTRONAUT MEMORIAL AT NASA STENNIS SPACE CENTER
HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. – A luminescent Earth, Moon and Space Shuttle begin to take shape against a swirling star field of deep blue, as artist Elizabeth Veglia carefully selects the next colored tile fragment.
StenniSphere, the visitor center at NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) near Bay St. Louis, Miss., commissioned Veglia, a renowned mosaic tile artist from Hancock County to design and create a memorial mural in honor of America’s fallen astronauts. When completed, the mural will be permanently displayed at StenniSphere.
“I am completely honored to be chosen to memorialize Columbia, Apollo 1 and Challenger,” Veglia said. “It’s such a wonderful thing that the astronauts put themselves out there, literally, for all the rest of us. They’ve given their lives for exploration.”
Although Veglia is no stranger to memorial works (she created a Hurricane Camille memorial in Biloxi, Miss.), outer space is a new frontier for the artist.
“I’ve been reading books about space and the Shuttle,” she said, “so I can have something to work by, and figure out how space works.” For example, used the tiles’ shape and placement to subtly show the gravitational relationship between the Earth and the Moon.
Veglia’s creation comes at a time when NASA – and the rest of America – reflects on its space heroes. As Feb. 1, the first anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy approached, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe declared Jan. 29 as Remembrance Day for Columbia and the crews of Apollo 1 (Jan. 27, 1967) and Challenger (Jan. 28, 1986).
To mark the anniversaries, SSC employees and the public took part in the process by placing tiles on the mural under the direction of the artist.
“We felt it was important to not only create a permanent memorial to America’s fallen astronauts, but also to allow our employees, visitors and school children to become part of the process as they remember Columbia and the other lost crews,” said Linda Theobald, NASA public affairs officer at SSC, who developed the idea for the mosaic.
On Remembrance Day, SSC Director Thomas Q. Donaldson V, RDML USN (Ret.) honored the work by laying the first tile.
“I can’t think of a better way to personally take part in memorializing these American heroes,” Donaldson said.
Veglia, who has directed similar large-scale art projects for 25 years, is known for allowing public participation in her mural projects, working with school groups and communities alike to teach them the mosaic art form. Some of her most noted works include the hurricane memorial in Biloxi, Miss., and a hotel mural in a Barcelona, Spain.
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News releases provided by NASA’s Stennis Space Center are available at https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ssc/news/newsreleases/2004. For more information, call the NASA Public Affairs Office at Stennis at 1-800-237-1821 in Mississippi and Louisiana only, or (228) 688-3341.
2004 News Releases