Meet the Artists
THREE GIFTED WOMEN
ALL WORKING IN FREDERICK, MARYLAND
Sarah Hempel Irani
Sculptor
Sarah Hempel Irani has been sculpting in clay and stone for more than twenty years. Her affinity for sacred and public art moves her to create figures that evoke a spiritual response and uphold cultural values.
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Sarah created two larger-than-life sculptures of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Potomac, Maryland. In Renaissance tradition, she articulated the clay sculptures in her studio and then sent the plaster casts to an Italian marble-carving studio. The National Sculpture Society awarded Sarah the Edward Fenno Hoffman Prize for her work that “uplifts the human spirit,” and the renowned BBC art historian Sister Wendy Beckett commended her sculpture of a woman grieving the loss of a child.
Sarah viewed the Claire McCardell commission as an opportunity to celebrate “what is good and noble about humanity, especially because those qualities were embodied in a creative, innovative, hardworking woman.” She is a Frederick Art Club member and has a studio in downtown Frederick: Hempel Studios.
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Exhibit Designer
Kirilloff Design has created interpretive wayside exhibits for many of our country’s national parks and other prominent historical and cultural sites. Under the artistic lead of Irene Kirilloff, the studio has designed and fabricated a wayside exhibit to accompany the bronzed sculpture that tells the story of Claire McCardell’s extraordinary career.
Irene Kirilloff
Landscape Designer
Sharon Poole, owner of Poole's Stone & Garden, Inc., has applied her considerable talent to the design of a garden setting for the statue at Carroll Creek Linear Park. The company provides design/build landscape and masonry services in three states and specializes in natural stone and native landscape design practices.