Full Commissions Executed for Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial
Sculptor Brittany Ryan and Mosaic Artist Mia Tavonatti to Carry Memorial Through Fabrication
IRVINE, Calif. — The Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee has executed full commission agreements with sculptor Brittany Ryan of Laguna Beach and mosaic artist Mia Tavonatti, long based in Orange County and now living and working in Tuscany, for the two principal elements of the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial at the Irvine Great Park.
Ms. Ryan’s agreement follows the Preliminary Design and Project Agreement executed in January 2026 and the unveiling of her conceptual maquette at the 111th Armenian Genocide Commemoration in April 2026. It covers enlargement of the work to full scale, mold fabrication, and bronze casting.
The finished sculpture will depict a mother carrying her child, encircled by krunks — cranes in flight, the Armenian symbol of longing for a lost homeland. The eleven-foot bronze will stand on a four-foot pedestal.
Ms. Tavonatti’s agreement covers the design and fabrication of the mosaic rug surrounding the pedestal: an approximately twenty-foot circular field drawn from Armenian carpet tradition, executed in high-resiliency tile suited to permanent outdoor installation. The two elements were conceived together in the schematic design approved by the Great Park Board in October 2024.
The two artists share a history at Laguna College of Art + Design in Laguna Beach, where Ms. Ryan studied under Ms. Tavonatti two decades ago and where she now serves as Sculpture Department Coordinator.
“During the maquette unveiling, I listened to many members of the local Armenian community describe how they see their own mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers in this figure,” said Ms. Ryan. “Hearing those personal connections made clear to me that telling their story is now my responsibility — one I do not take lightly. As I move forward, I need to carry the sculpture to full scale without losing the balance of symbolism and specificity that allowed so many people to recognize themselves and their histories in the figure.”
“My work has to do something difficult: hold the eye without competing with the bronze above it,” said Ms. Tavonatti. “The carpet should read first as pattern, then as ground, and only gradually reveal that it has been leading the eye upward all along. Brittany’s sculpture and this mosaic are one composition, and I have conceived it that way from the first conversation.”
“The maquette gave our community its first sight of what this memorial will be,” said Dr. Kevork N. Abazajian, President of the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee. “These agreements are what carry that vision into bronze and tile. The figure and the carpet beneath her were always meant to be a single work, and with both artists now commissioned, that work is underway.”
The Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial will be the first public Armenian Genocide memorial in Orange County. The Irvine City Council directed its siting at the Great Park in February 2023; the Great Park Memorials and Monuments Policy was adopted in September 2023; the site was dedicated in April 2024; and the Great Park Board approved the schematic design in October 2024.
Installation is planned for Spring 2028 in the Heart of the Park, where the City of Irvine has committed to the memorial’s permanent maintenance and groundskeeping.
Brittany Ryan is an award-winning sculptor who lives and works in Southern California and has exhibited widely with museums, galleries, and art associations. She received First Place in Sculpture at the Portrait Society International Competition in 2021, the Gold Medal Award at the National Sculpture Society’s 87th Annual Awards in 2020, and was juried into the California Art Club Gold Medal Show.
She is currently completing a monumental Marine Corps War Memorial for the City of Laguna Hills, and previously created the large-scale bronze installation Canyon Walkers at Laguna College of Art and Design. Since 2014, she has served as Sculpture Department Coordinator and Instructor at Laguna College of Art + Design.
Mia Tavonatti is an award-winning American mosaic artist and painter, long based in Orange County and now living and working in Tuscany, Italy. Her paintings and glass mosaics are held in public, private, institutional, and corporate collections worldwide. Her monumental glass mosaics Svelata and Crucifixion received the Second Place and Grand Prize awards at ArtPrize in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
She was invited to join the United States Air Force Art Program in 2006, where she is tasked with recording history through art, creating works that enter the service’s permanent collection for exhibition at institutions including the Pentagon and the Smithsonian. She earned her BFA and MFA from California State University, Long Beach, and has studied in Paris, Italy, and Greece. For twenty years she taught illustration and created the mural program at Laguna College of Art + Design, where she and her students completed eight public murals.
The Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in April 2025, representing a coalition of seventeen Armenian American organizations in Orange County. Its mission is to build and dedicate the first public Armenian Genocide memorial in Orange County. More information is available at ocagm.org.
