The sculpture of the Torres family’s hands sits in their living room as a constant reminder of strength and unity.
The family from Lehigh Acres received a life-like, professional sculpture of their hands including father, Gilbert; mother, Debbie; and daughters Adriana, 12, and Guilanna, 7, through Sean Garman’s Family Bond Project.
The project donates the sculptures to those with critically ill family members. Both Adriana and Guilanna have Hurler syndrome, a genetic disorder.
“When he read our story, he said he wanted to donate to us. We didn’t even know what to do or say. He was humble and gracious. He has a great heart,” Gilbert Torres said. “It’s a symbol of the girls’ strength and courage. It will go through the test of time and seeing it reminds me how strong these girls are and the bond of family glues us all together.”
He learned about Garman after his wife was researching online keepsakes to cherish family members.
Garman, who has a gallery called Garman Sculpture Works in Oakland Park, started the Family Bond Project after some of his clients who had critically ill family members would call, and after learning about pricing, he found out that many of their expenses were being used toward medical bills.
He knew he wanted to give back to them so they would have a keepsake to cherish forever.
“I wanted to somehow start offering this to families in those situations at no charge. Families come in all the time and it’s very meaningful, but the ones who have a family member who is critically ill, it’s a totally different meaning,” Garman said. “They can still touch their hand even after they are gone. Moms, dads and grandparents cry when they see the sculpture. There’s nothing more fulfilling to me than to be able to give that to them.”
The project kicked off in Colorado with Garman donating six sculptures. He started the project because of his strong ties there and he has friends who are involved with Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Morgan Adams Foundation, who helped identify the families, he said.
“It’s a piece of art that shows how we had to do this together. It’s a powerful symbol of our bond to remind us of this amazing experience and we have it forever,” said Kirsten Ortega, who received the hand sculpture in Colorado of her, her husband, daughter and son, Lionel, 5, who’s battling brain cancer.
Garman recently began donating the sculptures in Florida and he hopes to donate at least one sculpture per month, he said.
He’s looking for foundations, organizations or individuals who want to donate per family, and he also reached out to Ronald McDonald House Charities, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital to help identify families, he said.
“It’s giving them something they can hold on to forever. There is nothing more fulfilling. It’s priceless to them,” he said.
Garman, whose background is in manufacturing, estimates he has made 700 sculptures in the last year.
The material he uses is body-safe and derived from seaweed. In the finished product, every detail comes to life, including, nails, rings, fingerprints, pores, tattoos and veins, he said.
Garman is working on donating a sculpture to the Miami Dolphins Foundation for one of its events in December, he said.
For Ortega, receiving the sculpture has renewed her faith in humanity, she said.
“I feel like it has brought together people, when in the country now, I feel like people are being pushed apart. We will never forget Sean now and it gives me renewed hope in people. It’s a really lasting thing to do for other people; that is powerful,” she said.
Visit GarmanSculptureWorks.com/ or call the gallery at 954-789-5001.