Contained in the quilt panels of the Child Abuse Monument are several hundred novels of the conflict, horror, survival, victory and sometimes death of abuse victims. Sculptor and psychotherapist, Dr. Michael C. Irving, more than anyone, intimately knows the stories of the heroes draping the two "Reaching Out: Child Abuse Monument" figures.

The "Reaching Out: Child Abuse Monument" is a bronze sculpture eleven feet high and 30 feet across. Draping its two figures are 300 sculpted quilt squares with cast hands of child sexual abuse survivors and their supporters. The first finished bronze figure of the monument has been referred to as, "Created by divine inspiration and a masterpiece that will still be recognized as such in a millennia.

Slides and video interview clips of the child abuse survivors who collaborated with Dr. Irving to create the monument reveal remarkable stories of the resiliency of the human spirit over adversity. Each survivors quilt square is a remarkable work of art wheter on the bronze monument or on the screen of this complelling multimedia presentation.

The drama and depth of the stories is dramatically enhanced by the accompanying artworks. These sculpted quilt squares, each having the actual cast hand, writing and art imagery of the participant, lend themselves greatly to creating a deeper story throug Dr. Irving's presentation.

Many quilt squares on the monument are the voice of the nearly unspeakable, and yet Dr. Irving has provided a venue by which survivors show that the human spirit can shine with victory and compassionate alturism out from the gravest of adversity.

Monument squares are the voice of children used in prostitution, pornography and sex rings. There are squares by aboriginals who suffered from the residential tragedy. Victims who suffered arms broken in abuse; electric torture; rapes by parents, grandfathers and neighbors; half a dozen children who were molested by a serial pedophile in an idyllic rural town in Ontario. There are the pleads of children who tried to speak when, no one listened. There are quilt squares of children, wives, friends, in-laws who were not abused but have heard the stories and tried to help put a broken life back together. Children taken out of abusive homes and in the care of CAS (Children's Aid Society) have used the quilt squares to tell their story. Eight men abused at Canada's Hockey Shrine, Maple Leaf Gardens, sought a voice and the solace of monument squares. Twenty five of the quilt squares on the monument carry the story of victims who have died or committed suicide due to abuse.

This epic sculpture and its three hundred quilt squares offer a rare and remarkable opportunity to be a conduit to bring out stories of the human condition and spirit of a depth and breadth that is unparalleled. The multimedia is of great value in public and educational settings.