New memorial honoring Kentuckians lost to COVID-19 unveiled in Frankfort

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - COVID-19 took the lives of more than 18,000 Kentuckians. Now a permanent memorial to those who died during the pandemic is on full display in the Capitol Monument Park in Frankfort

The memorial, titled “United We Stand Divided We Fall,” was designed and sculpted by Kentuckian Amanda Matthews and her husband Brad Connell with Prometheus Art.

The spheres that surround the artwork represent the commonality of the people of Kentucky.

Matthews decided to strip any identifiers from the human characters in the piece. They say not having a specific person gave Matthews the freedom and emotion of capturing everybody who died from COVID-19.

The monument honors all of those we lost, but it also honors everyone else who went through this and who helped keep our communities together help bind us as one big family.

There are green lights at the base of the sculpture. If you remember, a lot of us were displaying green lights during the pandemic for victims of COVID-19.

The artwork took about 12 months to complete. With a Budget of $500,000 from private funds. No state dollars were involved

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