A name has been chosen for the new sculpture in front of the Renaissance building on the downtown Gainesville Square.
“Unity Flame” is the contest winner, submitted by Shaye Mullican for the modern sculpture provided by the Ivester family.
"Well, I mean, inclusivity and unity are always important, but especially now when some are feeling so much division," Mullican said on WDUN's Mornings on Maine Street. "I just thought it would be a good reminder for anyone who sees and reads it."
For her creativity in naming the art piece, Mullican had $2,000 donated toward the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club through the Ivesters.
Mullican trained with the club for five years in an attempt to make the Olympic team but is now retired.
"They've got canoe and kayak programs for kids, teens and adults of all ages," Mullican said. "They also have some team building programs where they can gather a group and do a cool sport called dragon boating, which is basically just paddling out on the water. And so it's a great place if you like to be outdoors on Lake Lanier."
Mullican was on NBC's Scouting Camp: Next Olympic Hopeful in 2018, where she was selected as a winner for the canoe and kayak sports category.
The sculpture sits in contrast to the Renaissance building and is a contemporary work Doug Ivester previously nicknamed an “attitude piece.” Ivester and WDUN teamed up June 7 when the naming contest began.
Ivester believes the modern art piece meshed with the old-soul style seen in the Renaissance architecture will portray a contemporary mindset for the building, which also houses Brenau University’s Lynn J. Darby School of Psychology and Adolescent Counseling on the second floor.
The sculpture sits in the middle of the southeastern side of the downtown Gainesville Square, in front of several new businesses including Kilwins, Cotto Modern Italian, Boarding Pass Coffee, Onward Reserve and Taqueria Tsunami. WDUN is set to move its broadcasting studios into the final open retail space next to Kilwins on the Renaissance frontage later this year.
