The Yilan County Government unveiled a public art display earlier in the week that features the handprints of young athletes who participated in last year’s National High School Athletic Games on a large mural of clay tablets.
The piece has been installed at the Yilan Sports Park in Yilan City, which contains a stadium and multi-purpose facilities that were the centerpiece of the county’s hosting of the sports event.
“This new public art piece is to honor sporting heroes for their achievements and glories. Many of them were medal-winners at the athletic games here last year,” Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) said.
Photo: Wang Yang-yu, Taipei Times
A total of 856 young athletes who won medals or set event records at last year’s meet had their handprints pressed on wet clay tablets, which were then dried and fired in a kiln.
The county government commissioned local artists to utilize creative designs to stack the tablets on a stainless steel structure, to form a mural of handprints.
Chen Wan-yin (陳宛吟), a gold medalist in one of last year’s equestrian events, said she was surprised to see the handprints on a mural.
“Organizers asked us to leave our handprints, but we were not sure what they were for. Now we see this public art display, and it is a happy occasion for us. I will come back to see this whenever I get the chance. It will serve as encouragement for us athletes to work hard and get better results,” she said.
Chen and a number of other high-school athletes were invited to attend the unveiling of the mural on Tuesday and had photographs taken of themselves with their handprints on the tablets.
During the ceremony, Lin and National Sports Council officials jointly announced that Yilan County has secured the right to host the 2017 Taiwan National Athletic Games.
“To prepare and organize this event is a big task for us, but we take on this challenge. We will make do with limited financial resources, but need the help of all Yilan residents to get ready for the 2017 sports festival,” Lin said.
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