Full Commissions Executed for the Memorial Sculpture and Mosaic
Stephanie Oddo, Laguna Niguel Council Member and Committee member; sculptor Brittany Ryan; Dr. Kevork N. Abazajian, Committee President; and Committee members Garo R. Madenlian and Greg Mikhanjian. Photo: Violet Bulujian.
The Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee has executed full commission agreements with sculptor Brittany Ryan of Laguna Beach and mosaic artist Mia Tavonatti, long based in Orange County and now living and working in Tuscany. Both principal elements of the memorial are now under commission.
Ms. Ryan's agreement carries the central bronze forward from the conceptual maquette, unveiled at the 111th Armenian Genocide Commemoration in April 2026, through enlargement to full scale, mold fabrication, and casting. The finished figure, a mother carrying her child, encircled by krunks in flight, will stand eleven feet on a four-foot pedestal.
Ms. Tavonatti's agreement covers the design and fabrication of the mosaic rug that will surround the bronze: an approximately twenty-foot circular field drawn from Armenian carpet tradition, executed in high-resiliency tile for permanent outdoor installation. The sculpture and the mosaic are conceived as one work — the figure rises from the carpet, and the carpet gives the figure its ground.
The memorial's concept — the mother carrying her child, the krunks in flight, and the mosaic rug drawn from Armenian carpet tradition — was developed by the Committee's design committee and approved by the Great Park Board in the 2024 schematic design. Arlette Madenlian, Creative Director, has provided vision and creative direction for the memorial from the original concept through the artist commissions.
The two artists share a history at Laguna College of Art + Design, where Ms. Ryan studied under Ms. Tavonatti two decades ago and where she now serves as Sculpture Department Coordinator.
“During the maquette unveiling, I listened to many members of the local Armenian community describe how they see their own mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers in this figure,” said Ms. Ryan. “Hearing those personal connections made clear to me that telling their story is now my responsibility — one I do not take lightly. As I move forward, I need to carry the sculpture to full scale without losing the balance of symbolism and specificity that allowed so many people to recognize themselves and their histories in the figure.”
Mosaic artist Mia Tavonatti in her studio. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“My work has to do something difficult: hold the eye without competing with the bronze above it,” said Ms. Tavonatti. “The carpet should read first as pattern, then as ground, and only gradually reveal that it has been leading the eye upward all along. Brittany's sculpture and this mosaic are one composition, and I have conceived it that way from the first conversation.”
“The maquette gave our community its first sight of what this memorial will be,” said Dr. Kevork N. Abazajian, President of the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee. “These agreements are what carry that vision into bronze and tile. The figure and the carpet beneath her were always meant to be a single work, and with both artists now commissioned, that work is underway.”
The memorial will be the first public Armenian Genocide memorial in Orange County. The Irvine City Council directed its siting at the Great Park in February 2023, and the Great Park Board approved the schematic design in October 2024. Installation is planned for Spring 2028 in the Heart of the Park at the Irvine Great Park, where the City of Irvine has committed to the memorial's permanent maintenance.
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The Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. More information is available at ocagm.org.
