Catherine Melina, Garden landscape designer
Catherine Melina received her master’s degree in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design from the Harvard School of Design. She was a recipient of a Harvard Community Service Fellowship and is currently a partner in Melina/Hyland Design Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ms. Melina donated the original design and countless hours to help create the memorial. As part of her initial design work, she spoke with many individuals who’d endured the loss of a loved one to homicide. Ms. Melina gave visible form to survivors’ feelings in a design that is both beautiful and intensely moving.
Judy Kensley McKie, "Ibis Ascending" sculptor
An internationally renowned artist, Judy Kensley McKie created the Ibis Ascending sculpture that has become the symbol of the Garden. Ms. McKie is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and a recipient of two National Endowment of the Arts fellowships, a Massachusetts Artist Foundation fellowship, and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award. Her work is part of permanent collections at many museums, including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln.
Ms. McKie became involved in the Garden project and created the Ibis Ascending in memory of her son Jesse and other murder victims, and as a way to effect change to end violence so others would not be murdered. The Ibis Ascending—pointing upwards—is a visual representation of hope and the possibility of a better future.