The goal of the Statue of Responsibility and the Statue of Responsibility Foundation is the inherent pursuit of mutual respect, caring and “Responsibleness” in all of humankind. The idea, whose beginnings were formulated by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Dr. Victor Frankl, aim to educate each of us that “Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness” In this time of considerable strife and contention, we hope to inspire a greater sense of both civic and individual responsibility and charity, in contrast to certain negative societal trends today. Our goal as a foundation is to revive characteristics that once helped define America to the world, including; the willingness to serve each other, help in times of need, treat each other with dignity and respect and understand our responsibility to individual, family, neighbor and community. It was Frankl who stated, “A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits of him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the ‘why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how’.”
The Statue of Responsibility will be wholly funded by private citizens’ donations, donations from grants, businesses and corporations. There will be NO public funds used in any portion of the statue, the grounds of the monument or future/generational upkeep.
The Statue of Responsibility will be built in Draper, Utah, on a 600-acre parcel of land which used to house the Utah State prison. The Statue of Responsibility will occupy about five (5) acres of that land space. The Statue of Responsibility is intended to be the artistic centerpiece of an innovative new development project initiated by the Utah State Legislature for the large property at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley, which was freed up by the recent relocation of the state prison to an area northwest of the international airport. The project, which will encompass residential, commercial, high-tech and recreational elements, is being carefully planned and supervised by the state-sponsored Point of the Mountain Authority.
Taken from Britannica:
Viktor Frankl (born March 26, 1905, Vienna, Austria—died September 2, 1997, Vienna) Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist who developed the psychological approach known as logotherapy, widely recognized as the “third school” of Viennese psychotherapy, after the “first school” of Sigmund Freud and the “second school” of Alfred Adler. The basis of Frankl’s theory was that the primary motivation of an individual is the search for meaning in life and that the primary purpose of psychotherapy should be to help the individual find that meaning.
After earning a doctorate in medicine in 1930, Frankl joined the staff of the Am Steinhof psychiatric hospital in Vienna, where he headed the female suicide prevention program from 1933 to 1937. He subsequently established a private practice but, he being Jewish, was forced to close it after Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938. He then became chief of neurology at Vienna’s Rothschild Hospital, which served the Jewish population. Anti-Semitism was on the rise, however, and in 1942 Frankl and his family were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where his father perished. In 1944 the surviving Frankls were taken to Auschwitz, where his mother was exterminated; his wife died later in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. As Frankl observed the brutality and degradation around him, he theorized that those inmates who had some meaning in their lives were more likely to survive; he himself tried to recreate the manuscript of a book he had been writing before his capture.
Following liberation, Frankl returned to Vienna, where he became head of the neurological department at the General Polyclinic hospital. He produced the classic book Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager (1946; “A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp”; published in English as Man’s Search for Meaning), which he dictated to a team of assistants in nine days and which went on to sell millions of copies in dozens of languages. Frankl also taught at the University of Vienna until 1990 and at a number of American universities. A few months before his death, he published Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning and Recollections: An Autobiography. The Viktor Frankl Institute in Vienna was founded in 1992 to further his work.
You can donate by visiting the Statue of Responsibility website donate page. All donations are tax-deductible and will be used exclusively for the building of statue and future upkeep of the grounds and monument.
The Statue of Responsibility Foundation, a Utah non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation, dedicated solely to the creation and operation of the Statue and worldwide educational efforts regarding personal and civic responsibility.
Renowned sculptor and friend of the Frankl family, Gary Lee Price. You can find out more about Gary by clicking on the About Us tab and locating his story.
The Statue of Responsibility Foundation is an accredited 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, established to raise to build and operate the Statue of Responsibility. Our sole endeavor is to inspire a greater understanding of the importance of individual and community responsibility as it relates to the freedom, community and wellbeing of humankind, including the world we leave for our descendants and all generations to come.
Historical Narrative of the Statue of Responsibility
Upon his arrival at Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp in Bavaria, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl watched in horror and despair as the manuscript he had secretly sewn into the lining of his coat was ripped from him and destroyed. His family members were lost to starvation, disease and the gas chambers. Along with that sacred draft of his book which would later be titled, Man’s Search for Meaning, his captors also hoped to destroy his spirit. Little did they know Frankl’s was a spirit that would not only rise from these dire ashes but would also become a powerful, radiant light to the world on the very subjects of enduring loss, pain and finding the real meaning in our existence.
Day after day, as Viktor watched the atrocities that were inflicted upon him and his fellow captives, he realized a poignant truth: that there was one thing that no person could take away from him or the others–unless they chose it. That one thing was their ability to choose how they would respond in any given situation. This awareness and the consequent examples that played out during his captivity allowed Frankl to mentally redraft (in just nine short days after his release) what would become one of “the top ten most influential books ever written”, per the Library of Congress.
Later, in the early 1960’s, Viktor was lecturing across America. Not exactly in opposition to, but in passionate debate, he started a dialog about freedom at a time when a generation of Americans focused on free love, free speech, free everything. LSD, other drugs and sex were all the rage. Though seemingly harmless to many, Viktor was often quick to caution students and citizens withgreat passion: “America, we in Vienna had our freedoms; those freedoms were taken from us” and “America, you must guard your freedoms and honor them.”
Perhaps one of his most profound quotes of all time, later added to the book, Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor wrote, “Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness.”
That is why Viktor recommended that the Statue of Liberty in the East be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility in the West. He thought of these principles as bookends to each other–and vital to America.
As Viktor’s message of Responsibility started to spread, so did the ground swelling of support for such an idea. One of his colleagues during this time was another great thought leader by the name of Stephen R. Covey from Utah. He was the author of another highly acclaimed book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The two became acquaintances and after many years, a group was organized to bring Viktor’s impassioned idea to fruition on America’s West coast–a physical Statue of Responsibility. When Viktor was in dire health in 1997, his fellow thought-leader and friend Stephen made a deathbed promise to him, committing to ensure that America would have this icon, a monument to remind her of the price that had been paid for her freedom–one that may surely be required in the future as well.
Stephen put one of his team members, Kevin Hall, to the task of finding a sculptor who could possibly put an image to such a concept. Upon referral, Kevin found renowned international sculptor, Gary Lee Price at his foundry in Springville, Utah and presented the opportunity. Gary, a former art student at University of Utah, had never heard of Dr. Frankl. Busy with commissioned projects, he took some time to think about the concept and do some research on this interesting man from Vienna.
Soon Gary’s heart was set on fire, and he became quite emotional. He realized this symbol was more than a huge business opportunity. To Gary, it was spiritual.
Continuously, the sculptor found in his best work a theme of connectedness. He had recently completed what became one of his most popular pieces of all time: The Ascent, depicting two Native Americans hanging from a sheer cliff, one reaching up in near desperation as the second reaches down to lift his companion out of danger. One of the most remarkable aspects of that piece is the strong clasp above the wrist between the two Natives, and the trust inherent in it.
Gary gave the piece the subtitle, They rise highest who lift as they go! And, as quickly as Gary and his team could create them in the foundry, they sold. While that was remarkable in itself, it was the comments that gallery owners shared with Gary about the statue’s emotional impact on their clients. They would catch them staring at the piece, and often they were moved to tears.
It was The Ascent that suddenly held the answer to Gary’s question of what
“Responsibility” might look like in sculpture. The very essence of the piece captured that moment of true connection, in the care and responsibility for one another. The moment the two hands connected, holding tight to one another, so did Spirit. The needed symbol was the clasp.
This symbol of great connection held a sacred place in Gary’s heart. He felt incredible compassion for Viktor and his experiences.
What Stephen and his team did not know, however, was that Gary had also lost family to violence. His mother and stepfather were taken from him as a six-year-old child in a murder suicide, on a U.S. Army base in Mannheim, Germany. Stephen also didn’t know that upon his return to Montpelier Idaho in the States, Gary endured brutal psychological, physical and sexual captivity, under diabolical control of a captor who strived to take away all of his human freedoms, and with those, any vestige of dignity.
Starved and beaten and threatened daily with his life, Gary had been forced to steal from neighbors and do unconscionable things. He wished to die. Gary had been that desperate hand reaching up to God or someone to help him. After his own “liberation day”, Gary realized he could become bitter…or better. As his freedom was restored and his career took off, he committed to now be the one reaching down to lift another, as elementary teachers and friends and mentors had lifted him–and literally saved his life.
Fortunately, Stephen Covey loved the symbol as well. It was decided,
however, that the only living person to truly give the design a full “stamp of approval” would be Viktor’s widow, Dr. Eleanore Frankl. Dr. Elly, as she was affectionately known, was (and still is), alive and bustling around Vienna. Gary and a small team flew from Utah to Vienna to get her opinion. Little did they know the miracle that was about to happen.
As Gary unveiled his version of the Statue of Responsibility, showing her the two hands vertically clasped as firmly as the Native Americans on the cliffside, Dr. Elly became a bit emotional. Immediately, she insisted Gary accompany her to her and Viktor’s flat where they had been happily married–she a practicing Catholic and he a Jew. Everyone said they would never make it but they loved until Viktor’s last breath and beyond.
Here, Elly showed Gary Viktor’s study, and took him over to a set of bookshelves where she said she wanted to share something very sacred with him. In this hallowed room, Gary was in awe at the number of books that lined the walls and to see the very desk where Viktor had penned Man’s Search for Meaning.
That’s when he noticed where Elly was pointing – to a beautiful niche in the bookshelf just above Viktor’s desk–a niche that had been carefully lined with white leather. Sitting upon it was a wood carving. Elly proceeded to tell Gary that this carving was Viktor’s favorite piece of art. He had cherished it from the very day he had discovered it in an outdoor bazaar, shortly after his release from enslavement at his third Nazi prison camp. Viktor had no money but determinedly placed it on “lay away” until he had enough money to purchase it for 250 rubles.
As an artist, Gary looked at the carving closely and held it in his hands. It depicted a man, naked from the waist up, engulfed in flames. Gary noticed the tortured man’s arms were reaching upward in supplication. Viktor had titled the piece, The Suffering Man.
Great emotion filled Elly’s eyes as she said, “My husband, Viktor would often ask the question, “Where is the hand reaching down?” Tearfully she added, “and you, my American friend, have brought to me a sculpture that answers my husband’s question!”
At that moment Gary Lee Price knew that this had now become his destiny. Before he left her, he asked where she’d like to place the monument. Elly shared that when Viktor taught at Alliant International University, they made San Diego their base camp, their home. It was likely at this very university that he first envisioned and spoke of the idea of a Statue of Responsibility. Gary had the desire to make her husband’s dream and her wish come true.
This was the reason the Statue of Responsibility Foundation focused so long and relentlessly on San Diego. It was a commitment from a little boy whose life had been so filled with tragedy to a widow who was still mourning the loss of her soul mate.
Why Utah:
While the concept was wildly popular in San Diego among selected leaders, California’s land authorities conceded little traction. About the same time SORF discovered that it would take California another twenty years just to get the permits to begin building, Utah’s governor was announcing what he’d like to see at the former prison grounds in Bluffdale, Utah. He wanted something iconic, like the Seattle Space Needle. People in Utah who knew Gary and Leesa and had been following their story told Cox, “You need the Statue of Responsibility.”
Keeping a promise to Elly Frankl
What many people don’t know is that Gary is now working to fulfill two promises. His first to Stephen Covey who initially hired him decades prior, and to Viktor Frankl’s widow Elly. His promise to Elly is being fulfilled in early 2024 as a 15-foot Statue of Responsibility is being constructed on the grounds of Alliant University, in her beloved San Diego, in honor of she and her husband’s shared legacy.
And what Gary hopes the world will soon see, is the answer to Dr. Viktor Frankl’s question answered here in Utah: “Who will be the hand reaching down?”
Knowing that we are sometimes the hand reaching up–and sometimes the hand reaching down, we leave you with this:
May it be all of us.
Making a Commitment to Our Legacy
With our entire souls we feel it is time to build The Statue of Responsibility and to begin the conversations around such a Monument and Movement. Gary and I have dedicated our lives to doing just this. There has never been a time when Liberty needed Responsibility as much as she needs it now.
In many ways, this endeavor has not been so different from “Lady Liberty’s” journey. It is often said that the more significant and important something is, the more challenging and difficult the road or path will be. This was surely the case for Frederic Auguste Bartholdi as he birthed The Statue of Liberty. It took him 20 years to see his dream, his passion and his destiny come to fruition. He was tireless and relentless. He was persecuted and deceived. He was tired and alone. He was also a man on a mission and not afraid to just stay the course.
To this day it remains unknown how clear Bartholdi was in those days as to the significance his colossal statue would one day hold. When we visit her and or look upon her and what she stands for today, may we no longer take for granted the immense costs both emotionally and financially that were paid to pave the way for her.
As our planet reels and sputters from the varied effects of these past several years with a global pandemic, economic failures, high interest rates, homelessness at record highs, and every other social and economic woe that has derailed us, may we all take a closer look at our freedoms. May this be the window that created the view to a more responsible world. A world where blame has no place. A world where we all take personal responsibility for our own lives and our own happiness. A world where the message that we are all connected is more powerful than the messages of division that have created this intense pain and suffering. A planet where the violations inflicted on mother earth herself find need to change as well.
May this be a new beginning for all of us who call this great planet home. May Responsibility stand side by side with Liberty as a fellow lighthouse of sorts for generations to come.
In turn, may we pick up the pieces of what our “old lives’ looked like and have the courage to move past that old comfort zone and move forward into a new reality. A reality where we care about ourselves and each other more. Where we take the time to slow down and think about the consequences and the heavy prices that we are paying emotionally, spiritually, mentally, financially and physically–and never to forget that if left unattended, these will be the same debts/prices that the next generations will have to pay.
May we be united in finding cures for more than just illnesses of the physical kind, but also earnestly seek to heal deeper. To heal those wrongs that have separated us and divided us for way too long. We envision a world where satellite versions of this powerful monument and message can be shared with all. May this message go “hand in hand” (pun intended) with our re-birth as a planet as we find our new normal. May we be the generation to build a Statue of Responsibility in America, the other half of the equation to our beautiful Statue of Liberty. In doing so, may we set an example to the world of what coming together for a greater good can look like.
We have not lost sight of the fact that this monument has the opportunity to be built upon the old prison grounds. This is the type of significance this symbol and project continues to play in our lives and those who love it. Along with Responsibility for one another comes Redemption – the belief that we can rise from the ashes of mistakes, abuse, war, poverty, strife, disease and disruption. That we can be more than we ever dreamed we can be—together.
We hope we get to do that with The Point Group at the Point of the Mountain in beautiful Utah!
After all, it feels as if it is “hand in hand” with the “Utah Way”…(yes, pun intended)!
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. We don’t take it for granted. We invite you to see the great importance of building this monument in the state of the idea’s inception: Utah–at a time when America – and our children – need it most. That time is now.
With sincere warmth and respect,
Gary and Leesa Price
Respectively, Sculptor of the Statue of Responsibility
And, Vice President, Statue of Responsibility Foundation
767 North Main, Springville Utah 84663 • (801) 489-6852