Gwendolyn Gillen has been selected by TV Land and the City of Minneapolis as the artist who will create the Mary Tyler Moore sculpture to be dedicated in downtown Minneapolis this fall.
Gillen, a Wisconsin artist whose work includes the Wisconsin Veterans of the Korean War
Memorial, has been commissioned to design and create a life-sized bronze sculpture of Moore tossing her tam in the air. It will be installed in the downtown Minneapolis site where that opening shot was filmed for the long-running sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Gillen's entry was selected from among 21 submissions following the call for
artists from the Minneapolis Office of Cultural Affairs earlier this year. Mary Tyler Moore approved the artist selection along with that office and TV Land. "I am deeply gratified that this work will celebrate a character I have long held near and dear to my heart," Gillen said.
- Richard Tedesco
