SHOFAR MACCABI SCULPTURE

Community Partners

Shofar Maccabi Sculpture at the Jewish Community Center is located at 6255 North Santa Monica Boulevard in Whitefish Bay, WI. Hunzinger Construction Company served as the general contractor for the site preparation, foundation pours, and the erection of this 17 foot tall magnificent metal sculptures entitled, Shofar Maccabi. Internationally renowned local sculptor, Richard Edelman, was commissioned to create the piece for the JCC’s Maccabi Games held in Milwaukee from August 2-7, 2015. The Maccabi Games are the largest Jewish youth event in the world with over 1,000 attendees from countries around the globe.

The Shofar Maccabi memorializes the 11 Israeli Olympic athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The metal sculpture is comprised on 11 “Olympic rings” each representing a lost Israeli Olympian. Each ring was cut into multiple pieces and re-formed into an elongated inter-laced statue reaching upward, 17 feet into the air. Hunzinger temporarily installed this piece at the Bradley Center where it was outfitted with propane to serve as the caldron to be lit to start the games. After the opening ceremony, Hunzinger crews relocated the statue to its permanent home at the JCC.

The plan was to create a large sculpture, install it on a 4 foot stage, light it at the Sunday ceremony at the Bradley Center, and then removed it early on Monday morning and reinstall it at the Milwaukee Jewish Community Center before the athletes were on site. Frankly, I would never had taken on such a bold plan without knowing the Hunzinger was there behind me to carry it out. Dreams are nice…but foundations, transportation, erection and safety make them come true…made more difficult by precision timing demanded. Someone on my team commented, “Had it been made out of glass, Hunzinger would have gotten it placed without a chip.”

Richard Edelman

Sculptor, Edelman Studios