Olympic Sculptor Shray - her Sculpture "Forevermore" Presented to Yunan Government of China

TWO MEN, ONE CENTURY - At the Governor's office at the State Capital in Sacramento, California WW II vet, Ken Mecham, and Olympic sculptor Shray donated Shray's sculpture, Forevermore, to the Director of the California Arts Council, Muriel Johnson who, in turn, gifted it to Professor Yuan, Chairman 2008 Beijing Olympic Landscape Competition, for the Yunnan Government

Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) October 15, 2007 -- At the Governor's office at the State Capital in Sacramento, California WW II vet, Ken Mecham, and Olympic sculptor Shray donated Shray's sculpture, Forevermore, to the Director of the Ca. Arts Council, Muriel Johnson who, in turn, gifted it to Professor Yuan, Chairman 2008 Beijing Olympic Landscape Competition, for the Yunnan Government.

Half way around the world from each other, two people joined in a life experience that would effect and influence them for the rest of their lives. The time was 1944 and 1945. The place was the town of Kunming in the Yunnan Province in southern China.

One was just arriving into the world in the safety of a hospital created by United States. The other, a young man, from a farm in Nebraska ... landing in a US plane assigned to the Air Force Transport Command to help protect the people from the Japanese air attacks.

This young man, a crew member from the US, flew to India with supplies and helped bring Chinese soldiers who had been in training back to China.

The crew member from the Air Force Transport Command was Mr. Kenneth Mecham ... the baby that was being born was Professor Yuan. Both would take away mutual life lessons from this experience of W.W.II. One would became an actor, teacher and father in the US. The other would become a renowned artist and the "Ambassador" of Cultural Exchange.

They would both in their own country and their own fields pass on these mutual lessons they garnered from W.W.II to their children, their art and their teachings

These experiences shaped their world outlook through their souls, which had become filled with the wisdom, to see the importance of humanity and harmony amongst mankind and the need to work towards a global village ... each in their own way.

As fate would have its way, their children would meet ... one from the USA, one from China, in 2006 ... each of them carrying on their fathers' dreams ... one an artist (Shray) from the Olympic Landscape Design Contest - an American, the other an enthusiastic Chinese student (Henri Yuan) for passavism and official translator.

This sculpture is being given as a gift from the American soldier's family in honor of Professor Yuan's and Mr. Kenneth Mecham's dream for world peace.

SHRAY BIOGRAPHY
http://www.shraybronze.com/

At age fifteen, Shray discovered the Greek sculpture, Winged Victory, at the Louvre in Paris and declared to her mother that she was to become a sculptor.

She began her formal classical training with a full scholarship at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and continued her studies at the San Francisco Art Institute with a full grant.

For eight years, Shray mentored with Italy's Piero Mussi, founder of the internationally renowned Mussi Artworks Foundry of Berkeley, California.

She is now pursuing new creative works with Alan Osborne, renowned artist and owner of the Art Foundry and Gallery, Inc. - one of Northern California's premier bronze foundries. http://www.artfoundryinc.com

Shray intensively studied the work of Rodin in Paris and her simplicity of form has been compared to Brancusi and Henry Moore.

Shray's bronze sculpture is constantly evolving. Over the last fifteen years, Shray's sculptures have received both national and international recognition in the form of awards and commissions.

This celebrated Olympic sculptor is represented in galleries throughout the United States and is collected internationally.

She shares her life with husband, Neal, a writer and historian.

FINALIST
http://www.shraybronze.com/shray-olympics2008.html

This year, Shray's work reaches beyond borders as her work, "Raising Tomorrow's Olympic Champions", travels throughout China and the world as a top-rated finalist in the sculpture competition for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

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