Seven artists create a sand sculpture for the White House

Seven sculptors of four nationalities have undertaken an ephemeral work on the esplanade facing the beach of Vierville-sur-Mer. Seventy tons of sand, collected on the five landing beaches, had been gathered in Omaha for this project requested by the White House memory commission and intended to be filmed.

Contacted in December, John Gowdy and Dale Murdock had brought the team together. The first, a firefighter in Atlantic City, had found partners, including an American television. The United States ambassador to France had facilitated the administrative procedures and the town hall of Vierville had welcomed the project. Dale Murdock, an American artist who has been living in Caen for several years, highlighted the quality of the site.

Work began on Wednesday, May 26. The sculpture represented the sea and a barge landing soldiers on a beach cluttered with obstacles, with an ephemeral stele at its base. The team planned to complete it on Saturday after four days and 200 hours of work, each stage being filmed for the White House.

The artists intended to keep it until the ceremonies on June 6 with water and a little glue. Nightly meetings with the children were planned the following week, around the work lit by candles. Dale Murdock hoped to make known in France a practice that was still not widespread.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/Photos2008/2004-SculptureSable2004.jpg