Sculpture placed at Mason City cemetery to help ease suffering of those who experience the grief of losing a child

MASON CITY — A sculpture was unveiled Thursday evening at Elmwood St. Joseph Cemetery in Mason City in the area reserved for infants known as Lullaby Lane.

Kyle and Kristy Easley recently purchased a sculpture in memory of their baby daughter who was stillborn at 34 weeks as a way to help ease the suffering of others who experience the grief of losing a child.

Kyle Easley says he was out at the cemetery placing a permanent vase at his daughter’s grave and thought about finding a way to honor those families who have lost a loved one.  “I’ve always admired the sculpture tour downtown and all the unique art that it’s brought, and being on the Park Board and working for the committee, and getting one for work, there’s so many different unique things and so many different meanings behind it. I was out here one day as we installed the permanent vase, and I was looking around at the beautiful setting and just thought what if we got a sculpture to sit out here as kind of a tribute, so that’s what kind of started the ball rolling.”

Easley liked one of the sculptures that was downtown, but that had already been purchased, but then he and his wife found “Arc of Peace”, a work of renowned Colorado artist Lorri Acott.  “In hindsight, this is just the perfect piece. It’s just so  fitting in so many ways. It’s funny how things work out sometimes, but it’s perfect.”

Easley says Acott did a special new bronze casting of the piece, which pushed back their timeline of installing the sculpture, but it worked out to do this in October.  “Everything was completed by late summer, but then at that point with going back to school, other things going on, we just thought let’s wait until October. We figured it would be a great way to bring more attention to Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. It just funny how things come together.”

Lullaby Lane is located across from the office just inside the main entry of the cemetery.