CELORON, NY.- Sculptor Carolyn Palmer unanimously won a national competition consisting of over 65 sculptors to create a life-size bronze figure of a new Lucille Ball statue for the town of Celoron, NY, Lucy’s hometown. Palmer’s sculpture was unveiled at noon on Saturday, August 6, 2016 in a public ceremony at the Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celoron, NY.

During the nine-month creation of her bronze, Carolyn researched Lucy’s essence by watching countless I Love Lucy episodes, hiring models to pose in 50’s style retro swing dresses and even purchasing a redhead wig for visual inspiration. The life-size sculpture stands a total of 6” tall. In real life, Lucille Ball was 5'7”, but Palmer sculpted her with elegant 2 -1/2” high heels and crowned Lucy with her signature layers of coiffed curls measuring 2-1/2" high.

“I not only wanted to portray the playful, animated and spontaneous Lucy, but also the glamorous Hollywood icon,” said Carolyn Palmer. “I just hope that all the Lucy fans are pleased and that Lucille Ball herself would have enjoyed this image of her.”

Carolyn’s inherent and uncanny talent for sculpture was recognized very early in her life. As a child, she vacationed at her grandparents’ near the beach and spent time sculpting figures and faces in the sand. As a young adult, she travelled extensively throughout Europe, focusing her studies on the great classical sculptures in the city squares and in the intimate galleries and famous museums, such as The Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence and the Prado in Madrid. It was at this time that Carolyn realized sculpture was her true passion.

Carolyn Palmer, based in New York’s Hudson Valley with a satellite studio in Saddle River, NJ, is known for capturing the soulful characteristics, facial features and figures of historical people and well-known personalities, including Pope Francis, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Orville and Wilbur Wright, and Thomas Jefferson.

Her sculptures are in prestigious private collections, public venues and prominent museums, including the front entrance to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY; Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, NJ; the Sanford Airport in Orlando, FL; The Jefferson Center in Syracuse, NY; and Terrwilliger Productions in Los Angeles, CA. In addition, Palmer’s sculptures are currently on exhibit at the New-York Historical Society and the Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House in New York, NY and the New York State Museum in Albany, NY. In 2015, Palmer’s marble sculpture of Pope Francis was placed at the Papal Residence in New York City to greet the Holy Pontiff who performed a special benediction over the sculpture. A bronze edition of the sculpture is being created for New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral.