DVAA Member, Helge Speth, gifts Covid Inspired sculpture to Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci
Earlier this week, Danielle and I were in the office at DVAA when we received a phone call from Dr. Peter Speth, husband of sculpture artists and DVAA member, Helge Speth. He went on to tell the two of us a fascinating story involving non other than Chief Medical Advisor to the President, Dr. Anthony Fauci and a sculpture of Helge’s that was on view at DVAA during the Pandemic.
Below, in Helge’s words, is a saga of how Da Vinci Art Alliance played an integral role in getting Helge’s sculpture Coronials in the possession of Dr. Anthonly Fauci. Thank you to both Helge and Peter for sharing this wonderful Story! To read more about Coronials and Helge’s inspiration behind the piece, click here.
-Ronnie
DVAA x Dr. Anthony Fauci Saga:
In 2020 Peter, my forensic pathologist-husband, was recommended to a retired Judge, Hon. Lise Pearlman, in California, to become her forensic adviser for a book entitled “The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect Nr. One”. She is a best selling author who has been writing about historic trials. In the Lindberg book, she included Peter's Declaration and devoted one chapter to his forensic research involving the heart-wrenching demise of the Lindbergh baby.
Tragically, an innocent man died on the electric chair, having been found guilty for a crime he did not commit. A gross miscarriage of justice was committed! It was the hope of the author to shed light on this tragic event and to possibly bring about a posthumous exoneration of Bruno Hauptman, the alleged killer, through the Innocence Project.
In the summer of 2020, Hon. Lise Pearlman came to New Jersey to examine some evidence and invited Peter and me for lunch. Very kindly, she became interested in me as well, and it turned out that her mother had been the chairman of the art department at Western Connecticut State College in Danbury, where I had begun my art studies, and further, that her successor, under whom I had studied, knew her well and has been one of our best friends ever since. Small world, indeed!
Dr. Anthony Fauci, pictured with Helge Speth and her sculpture “Coronials”
Hon. Lise Pearlman became interested in my art and followed on the Internet some shows in the Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery in Philly in which I had been accepted. To our surprise, she purchased my sculpture “Coronials,” which was inspired by the corona virus, and decided to give it to Dr. Fauci as a gift of appreciation for all the hard work he had done with regard to COVID-19. We, in turn, living close by, offered to transport the piece to the NIH, since it was too fragile to be shipped. The Judge contacted Dr. Fauci's office to arrange this and was told repeatedly over the past 2-1/2 years: “The NIH is in lockdown due to the pandemic and Dr. Fauci is not available to the public because of security concerns."
Next chapter of strange coincidences: Through Peter’s professional connections and his iron perseverance, I was fortunate to be admitted to the NIH as a patient and accepted in their “Undiagnosed Disease Program” concerning my “Central Airway Disease,” the manifestations of which have never been described in the medical literature. So last week, I became a ginny pig for research at the NIH where they performed a slough of genetic tests, checking every chromosome of my body to possibly find the etiology of my underlying disease complex.
And now the most important coincidence: The doctor under whose care I ended up at the NIH, is the Director of Immunology in Dr. Fauci's Institute. When we told him our sculpture story, he said that we should bring it along and he would call up ‘Tony’ (Anthony Fauci) to arrange the details. Since the sculpture is a bit heavy and awkward for us old folks to lug from the underground parking garage, we placed the large box containing the sculpture and bubble wrap into a wheelchair and wheeled it past security up to and down from the 11th floor of the Clinical building, where the team examined me -- people asked "who's the patient in the wheelchair?" Then across campus, again past security, to Dr. Fauci's office where he appeared with his body guard. Peter introduced me and Dr. Fauci shook hands with me. The body guard offered to take photos with Peter's I-phone while we explained that the Judge was hoping he would accept her gift either to remain in the institute or to take home for himself personally. He opted for the latter since he will be retiring within the next couple of weeks. This, of course, made me very happy!
Helge rolling “Coronial” through the halls of NIH. Passerby endearingly referred to the sculpture as “the patient”.
The many nuanced coincidences that finally led to the delivery of the sculpture, literally days before Dr. Fauci’s retirement, are rather bizarre and we actually can hardly believe the ending of “Mission Accomplished”.
Finally, I would like to express my appreciation for having been part of many shows at Da Vinci over the last couple of years. Everyone has always been extremely kind and helpful and it has been a pleasure to be a member.