Chelsea
Yet, she’s changed a little since being tumbled into Jail Brook in what’s thought to have been an impulsive prank.
SafeArt employees, volunteers and the artist who helped make the lightweight aluminum sculpture all worked to restore it. But those weeks in the icy water left marks that couldn’t be brushed out.
“That’s fine,” said Tracy Penfield, the nonprofit’s founder and artistic director. “We all have scars.”
Another change was by design. While a bend in her body was straightened, a curve in her arm remains.
“She shows her journey, like all of us do,” said Bridgett Taylor, SafeArt’s executive director.
The sculpture is named for Kristy Norton, a young Arizona woman whose struggles with depression led her to different treatment programs, including one in Vermont. In 2009, Norton died by suicide at age 25.
A fund in her name helps support SafeArt programs, and over the years, Penfield and Kristy’s parents have become friends.
A counselor Kristy “so dearly loved” in Vermont had a connection with the nonprofit, Kristy’s mother, Sally Erbe, said in a telephone interview from Arizona. In a letter written before her death, Kristy asked that any donations made in her memory go toward healing and helping others, “as my counselor has helped me.”
An aspiring filmmaker and talented photographer and writer, Kristy knew the arts could help people heal “and bring out the beauty from their soul, rather than the hurt in their heart,” Erbe said.
Kristy was a tireless advocate for mental health reform, perhaps at her own expense, Kristy’s father, Chip Norton, said in a telephone interview, also from Arizona. “I don’t find fault in that. It was just her nature.”
Her concerns included funding for mental health programs, insurance coverage and the stigma associated with what’s generally categorized as mental illness, he said. “If someone’s got heart disease or something of that nature, it’s just approached differently than if someone has a brain disorder.”
SafeArt uses the arts to address issues of bullying, dating violence, domestic abuse and sexual assault, and Kristy was intended to be portable, so she could be easily transported and displayed at the nonprofit’s performances.
The sculpture, comprising two large sections bolted together, was designed by the women’s healing arts group, and local sculptor Phil Thorne cut the metal.
Kristy is “wonderful,” both in its appearance and “the way the idea came about, from young people and their interest,” Chip Norton said.
“I think it’s a wonderful community story, and it certainly means a lot to our family,” he said.
“I can’t say enough how much we appreciate what Tracy has done to help us … and the work people like Tracy do for their communities.”
Based on a picture of Kristy in the mountains, the sculpture captured her spirit, Erbe said. She “had such a spark, such a sense of humor.”
Erbe had to pull to the side of the road the first time she saw it. “It just took my breath away,” she said. “My heart was full, my tears were flowing.”
This winter was the second time the artwork has been taken from outside the Mascoma Bank building. “We had everybody on high alert,” Taylor said. “People were quite upset.”
But in January, the pieces were discovered, one near the bridge and the other further downstream. Penfield and her husband, Carl Pepperman, braved the icy banks and managed to pull them ashore.
The water was 4 feet deep and rushing, yet the sculpture’s arm was wrapped around a rock, as if she was holding on, Penfield said. “It was a rescue for sure.”
The first time Kristy disappeared had a less dramatic resolution; she was found leaning against the embankment next to the building.
“All we had to do was pick her up and put her back on the stand,” Penfield said. “I foolishly thought it wouldn’t happen again.”
This time, she’s been bolted down.
During Kristy’s absence, several people asked Penfield when she would return. They weren’t alone in missing the larger-than-life silhouette.
“I really thought we wouldn’t see her again,” Penfield said. Having her back “feels wonderful.”
On a sunny afternoon earlier this month, Penfield, Taylor and SafeArt board member Bonny Willett attached the last few strands of “hair,” Kristy’s new corkscrew curls, which replaced the old, tangled ones. Penfield carried her outside, where the women rejoined the pieces and slid the sculpture back into place.
“She definitely looks different,” Penfield said, stepping back to look her over. “But I actually kind of like it.”
In the phone interview, Chip Norton said he doesn’t think any of us look the same over time. “It’s probably appropriate that the statue is approachable and has its own adventures,” he said.
Aimee Caruso can be reached at acaruso@vnews.com or 603-727-3210.
