PRESS RELEASE—One Small Step Still Trying To Bridge Divides: Armstrong Statue For USA & Russia

Houston, Texas – Fifty years ago Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” on the moon signaled the start of détente and a thawing of the Cold War – fifty years later a Russian émigré and an American woman are chipping away at the new frostiness between the two countries with a peace-making sculpture of a humble hero.

Sophya Tabarovsky, a Russian émigré has lived in the USA for thirty years and who runs Kindness Without Limits, a cultural NGO affiliated with the Russian School in Houston. She commissioned major Houston sculptor, Bridgette Mongeon to create the 50th anniversary tribute to Neil Armstrong and through him the thousands of men and women who create dramatic technological and peace advances through their work in space research.

Two life-size bronze sculptures will be made of a smiling, 5’11 Armstrong, helmet in hand, metaphorically walking across the lunar surface. One statue will be erected outside the Space Center Houston. Paul Spana, exhibits director of Space Center Houston said they were, “very happy to receive the sculpture in the spirit of the 50th Apollo anniversary.”

The second sculpture will be donated to Ethnomir, an ethnographic park at Petrovir, 75 miles outside of Moscow. The park carries representations of most of the countries of the world and key individuals’ representative of the achievements of those nations.

“What many forget,” Tabarovsky said, “is that Aldrin and Armstrong took an Apollo 1 patch to the moon to honor astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who died in a fire during the first test of the Apollo module. They also carried with them two Soviet medals, honoring cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, who died in the Soyuz 1 spacecraft in 1967 and Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the Earth, who was killed in an aircraft in 1968. They also carried a small gold olive branch – a global symbol of peace – and a silicon disk about the size of a United States half dollar. Inscribed on the disk in microscopic text are messages from the president of the United States and leaders of 73 nations from Afghanistan to Zambia solicited by Thomas Paine, then head of NASA. The messages were left on the moon.”

Tabarovsky said, “These gestures of peace, at a time of high political tension, showed that everyone working on that mission understood that worldly conflicts are dwarfed by the magnificence of space and our mutual need to protect our planet. We aim to bridge conflicts with the healing steps of peace.”

In 2012, The Russian Dialogue of Cultures Foundation donated a sculpture of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to the United States. Tabarovsky was among those who ensured it was installed alongside a panel of astronaut, John Glenn at the first NASA headquarters, now home of Houston Parks and Recreation, Texas.

Bridgette Mongeon, a well-known Houston sculptor’s most recent installation was an ornate and large depiction of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland. The bronze sculpture, immediately beloved by the many families and children who visit it, was commissioned by The Rubenstein Foundation and installed at Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas.

She is presently completing 14’of Eve for Generation Park in Houston, Texas commissioned by Ryan McCord of McCord Development to be installed in the fall of 2019. And a bust of Penny Marshall in recognition of her contribution to women’s baseball as director of the movie “A League of Their Own,” commissioned by the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. The bust will be presented at the AAGPBL September Reunion at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Funds are still being raised for the Armstrong sculpture and its installation in Houston and Russia.

HISTORIC BACKGROUND: Space exploration was a symbol of the bitter Cold War struggle between the USA and the Soviet Union. On October 4, 1957, the USA was shocked when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The following year President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In April 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin because the first person to orbit the earth leading to newly-elected President John F. Kennedy to declare that the USA would be the first to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. He never lived to see his dream fulfilled. On July 20, 1969 – six years after Kennedy’s assassination – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps on the lunar surface. As millions of viewers around the world watched, many in tears, Armstrong called the moment “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Today space is a zone of peace and cooperation. The International Space Station, as an example, is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low earth orbit and is a joint project between five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).
www.unitedinspace.com

PRESS CONTACTS:

• Sophya Tabarovsky, Kindness Without Limits sophyat@gmail.com, 281-370-1464 www.unitedinspace.com
• Sculptor, Bridgette Mongeon, 713-540-3201 or Bridgette@creativesculpture.com www.creativesculpture.com