The tribute, called The Memoria Project, was sculpted at Sandy Hook from May through August 2002. Completely nonprofit, all materials were donated. Four blocks of Imperial marble, at 20,000 pounds per block, were donated from Vermont Quarries, Inc. of Rutland, VT. The raw form of the blocks was rectangular and milled and the dimensions were 125 x 125 x 200 cm. The marble statues are 4 x 4 x 13 feet.
"We were advised by Johnson Atelier [of Mercerville, NJ] to contact Vermont Quarries for the marble," said Shaheen. "Six blocks of marble were originally quarried, and I went to the quarry to pick out the four to use. It is really great marble."