Larger than Life Marilyn Lands in Palm Springs
-
PALM SPRINGS- Crews worked all day to get the "Forever Marilyn"l statue up. So far, they assembled her legs and will resume working for the next few days to get the 26-foot-tall art piece together. Video by kmir6.com
video
PALM SPRINGS- After a cross country trek, a giant statue of Marilyn Monroe has arrived in Palm Springs. Now workers are piecing together the larger than life legend.
It's certainly no easy task getting this 26-foot-tall "Forever Marilyn"
statue up. It took two flat bed trucks going cross country for about a
week to get her to the desert and it will take four days to get her up.
The traveling statue by Seward Johnson landed in Palm Springs after a year in Chicago. Other cities wanted her, including London and Tokyo, but Palm
Springs and Marilyn Monroe have a past.
"Palm Springs is an ideal place for her because she is literally coming home. She had a home here, she was discovered here, she has a lot of history here, so it's really perfect," said Paula Stoeke, director of The Sculpture Foundation.
At 40 thousand pounds, she's made of stainless steal and aluminum.
The piece of art towers above buildings in Downtown Palms Springs, and the local businesses and donors who paid $100 thousand to get it
here hope it attracts tourists while the neighboring Desert Fashion Plaza
is undergoing revitalization.
"It's a great tribute to the history of this whole area with all the streets named after movie stars and so on. It's nice to see that," said Andy Ganes, who is visiting Palm Springs from Northern California.
The city will officially unveil the statute on the corner of Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way on May 24th at 6pm.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.