26 March 2014, 16:57
14739 |

Reception will raise funds for Armenian Genocide Memorial

A benefit reception Saturday, April 5, at 7 p.m. for the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial will feature a special guest performance by Martin Mkrtchyan and a keynote address by Congressman Adam Schiff.

The Memorial is scheduled to be completed and dedicated in April 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians ordered by the government of the Ottoman Empire over a three-year period beginning in 1915.

Art Center of Design student Catherine Menard’s winning proposal for the Memorial was chosen from 17 submissions in a 2012 competition. The design features a drop of water, representing a tear, falling every 21 seconds over a sculptural tripod 28 feet in diameter and 16 feet tall, surrounded by stone paving, benches and a circular hedge. Every year approximately 1.5 million drops will fall over the tripod and into the basin below.

“The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial will be a testament to the 1.5 million people who were lost and a reminder to those of us who are their descendants,” said Bernard Melekian, a member of the Memorial Committee and former Pasadena Police Chief. “It will also serve as an educational opportunity for people from all walks of life for generations to come so the Armenian Genocide will never be forgotten.”

The Pasadena City Council unanimously approved the proposal for the Memorial in September 2013 following testimony by dozens of supporters from the local Armenian community.

The event at Dream Palace Banquet Hall, 510 E. Broadway in Glendale, will help raise funding for the Memorial, which will be paid for and maintained entirely by donations. The event is being organized by the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, a nonprofit organization.

There is range of donation options for attending the event: Individual $250, Organization $1,000, Corporate $2,500 and Sponsor $5,000. Checks may be made payable to Community Foundation of the Verdugos, with PASAGMC written on the memo line, and mailed to PASAGMC, 272 S. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena CA 91101; donations may also be made via credit card at www.PASAGMC.org (click on How to Help/Donate). Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

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