Charlotte, N.C., businessman and philanthropist Irwin Belk has funded the creation of a bronze sculpture depicting the “Phoenix Rising” at Elon University. The sculpture will be located at the entrance to Elon’s north athletics complex, near the intersection of Bank of America Drive and Phoenix Drive.
This is the latest in a series of gifts Belk and his wife, Carol Grotnes Belk, have made to Elon. In 1999 the new library was named in honor of Mrs. Belk, after the couple made a major gift to the Campaign for the Elon Vision.
“Once again, Irwin Belk has demonstrated his strong commitment to Elon. The Phoenix sculpture will become a splendid, inspiring monument at Elon,” said Leo M. Lambert, Elon president.
The statue, created by artist Jon Hair of Cornelius, N.C., will stand 19 feet high and be mounted on a brick pedestal. The Phoenix is depicted as rising from flames which engulf a globe-shaped egg. The wings of the Phoenix are stretched dramatically upward in two massive arcs. At the pinnacle of the sculpture between the wings is another flame, denoting the eventual return of the Phoenix to fire.
Elon adopted the Phoenix as its athletics identity in 2000, including a stylized logo and mascot character. The legendary rare bird of ancient mythology was consumed in fire and rose from its own ashes — a connection to the university’s triumphant recovery from the 1923 fire that destroyed the campus main building. Throughout history, the Phoenix has been a symbol of light, knowledge and everlasting vigor – in line with Elon’s mission and institutional values.
Irwin Belk has had a lifelong interest in athletics, and has attended all the Games of the Olympiad since 1960. He served on the United States Olympic Committee for more than 30 years. Belk has funded numerous major sculpture projects at colleges and universities as well as the bronze sculpture garden at the U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Olympic Truce Sculpture at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The “Phoenix Rising” sculpture will be completed in late summer 2002.
Editors note: a high resolution image of the sculpture can be downloaded from the Elon Web site at: http://www.elon.edu/berryh/phoenixsculpture_200.jpg