CORTLAND – The tallest robotically carved marble sculpture in the United States will be unveiled this summer at the annual “An Evening Under the Stars” fundraiser in Bazetta Township.
The event will take place at 5 p.m. Aug. 17 at Cadobaz, the estate of Dr. Farid Naffah, on Cadwallader Sonk Road in Cortland.
Proceeds will benefit Avamar Foundation, the charity founded by Naffah to provide financial aid to elderly patients in need of prescription medicine.
Naffah presents the benefit every summer at Cadobaz, which stands for “culture, art and dining of Bazetta.” The event is in its 16th year.
The sculpture, titled Lady Kindness, is 29.3 feet tall and weighs 80 tons. A monument to kindness, it was robotically sculpted from white Carrara marble and is designed to withstand the Ohio weather.
Naffah commissioned stone carver Dale Johnson of Sunbury, Ohio, and portrait artist Laura Bush to create the model. A team from Garfagnana Innovazione of Italy scanned the model, sourced the marble, milled it using robotic techniques and erected it at Cadobaz in November.
The sculpture was featured in Smithsonian magazine last year.
Designed in Hellenistic style, the sculpture transposes a Greek deity to modern times.
To learn more about the statue and the Avamar Foundation and the August event, go to LadyKindness.com.