University of Minnesota Health Center (Fairview), Minneapolis, Minnesota

A sculptural fountain and an Offering Table for the Meditation Place in the cancer ward. It is designed to embrace many faiths, traditions and beliefs because the Tree of Life is an important symbol in almost every religion. "In creating the sculpture I introduced additional connections. Apropos of a medical institution, the tree trunk transforms into a double helix of DNA. At the base of the helix is a fig leaf and a seed pod, the traditional symbol of Buddha. The trunk spirals up in streams of life forms - leaves, sticks, flowers, snails, fish, and birds (over a hundred different images) all surging upward. The tree grows from a fountain that spills into a pool cut from a granite cube, and the running water is a calming sound."

Alexander Tylevich, Sculptor. Fr. James Notebaart, Liturgical Designer. Rafferty, Rafferty Tollefson, Architects.