In early June, NSS Fellow Adam Matano’s medal for Brookgreen Gardens was unveiled in a special ceremony on the garden grounds. The 3″ x 3″ bronze medal titled The Oconee Bell was presented to the crowd of sculpture garden patrons who turned out for its debut. Each year, Brookgreen commissions an artist to create a medal that reflects one of three themes: The Sculptor at Work, History of South Carolina, or Flora and Fauna of the Southeast. Now in its 54th year, the Brookgreen Gardens Medal Series was established in 1972 by NSS Fellow and former chairman of Brookgreen’s Board of Trustees, Paul Jennewein (1890 – 1978). Matano used imagery of the local floral and fauna, specifically the red wolf, cormorant and the Oconee Bell flower for his piece. “Taken together these three figures – red wolf, cormorant, and flower – form a kind of ecological trinity,” begins Matano. “One represents fragility and the stakes of neglect. One represents the tenacity of life in compromised conditions. One represent rarity and the urgency of now. Cast in the round, held in the hand, the medallion asks us to consider what we are the stewards of, and whether we will act before the bell ceases to ring.  To see a video of the unveiling, click HERE