The Miami Project is housed in the University of Miami's new Lois Pope Neuroscience Research Building, which is designed in the shape of a vertebra. This remarkable research, teaching, and treatment facility is dedicated to healing "irreversible" spinal cord injuries.

A connected series of luminous crystal Dedication and Donor Recognition plaques tell the story of the profound endeavor of the people who have made the Miami Project a reality. Inspiring words and quotations, deep chisel-cut graphics, and finely etched portraits with accenting lines are laid out to lead visitors deeper into the building. While highly readable and informative, this unbroken flow of words and lines also expresses the importance of CONNECTIVITY in all its meanings.

The most striking feature of the lobby is the 8-foot-high, free-standing, art glass Donor Recognition sculpture at its center. Modeled on a powreful and deeply conceived painting by wellknown visionary artist Alex Grey, the sculpture is executed in carved inch-thick crystal. The powerful, infititely layered and fountaining shower oflight portrayed in the sculpture is charged with luminosity and aliveness. It represents HOPE, the uncrushable core of our being, the infinite power of our creativity and will, and our connection to all life.

Visually, it is a beautiful metaphor for the spinal cord and the impulses it sends throughout the body. It also symbolizes the Miami Project's dedication to enabling people with spinal cord injury to stand -- tall and free and fully energized -- once again.

The sculpture consists of three separate layers of deep-carved crystal that is edge-lit in 3 colors of neon. It is surrounded by a transparent curved glass sheath, which serves as a protective handrail. This sheath symbolizes the generous embrace of the Project by the philanthropic community. It also echoes the shape and role of the myelin sheath, which encircles our nerves and transmits their signals, transforming our will and intent into action. Carved with the names of Founding Members and supporting Donors, and incorporating inspirational quotations, this sheath is a striking example of the merging of a state-of-the-art Donor Recognition System with an extraordinary statement in art glass.

Integral to the symbolism of the piece and the traffic pattern through the building are the words inlaid into the terrazzo floor encirling the sculpture: "When courage, genius and generosity hold hands, all things are possible."

(more pictures)