Inside Osceola’s 49-foot-high tribute to the Pulse massacre’s 49 victims

The region’s first sculpture dedicated to the 2016 Pulse nightclub mass shooting envisioned to stand 49 feet tall with an open green pasture as a backdrop in Osceola County — highlighting its ties to the tragedy.

Renowned local artist Jefrë is designing the sculpture as a tribute to the 49 victims and the survivors, family members and first responders. It would be imposing — roughly the height of a four-story building — but that’s not new for Jefrë: He designed the 59-foot-tall circular architectural piece that lights up a parking garage with projections in Lake Nona called The Beacon.

His design for the Pulse tribute will be unveiled June 12 — the eighth anniversary of the massacre. The hope is to have it completed next year in Brownie Wise Park, a 25-acre conservation area along Lake Toho.

“It doesn’t have to really compete with anything except for nature,” Jefrë said. “I think that the site fits well because it allows us to expand the ideas to not only create a tribute to the fallen 49 but also … for the greater community at large.”

He said the project will include a scannable QR code that takes visitors to more information about the day of the event but will not highlight the shooting itself.

Jefrë, known for building sky-high artwork around the world, was initially tapped to work on the memorial in Orlando before the onePulse Foundation took over in 2016. He left the project in 2017 — after it became too large, he says — and now in an effort to give back to the community he’s building the region’s first tribute without charging for his time. The county and private donations will pay for the cost of construction.

“It feels disrespectful if I was actually collecting funds from people who have lost so much,” he said.

The onePulse Foundation went belly up last year without building its planned museum and permanent memorial. The city of Orlando has taken over that project and hopes to unveil a new design by year’s end.

Many people recognize the connection between Orlando and Pulse, but less is known about Osceola’s ties to the tragedy. Officials, residents and the artist hope building the region’s first tribute to Pulse in Osceola County will bring education and solace to the community.

Osceola holds strong significance to family members of Pulse victims and survivors — many call it home. Jefrë has his own powerful connection to the area.

In 2009 at age 35, the artist had a heart attack that led him to quit his corporate job and begin making art. The incident took place in Miami, where doctors placed four stents to keep his arteries open, but he had triple bypass surgery at AdventHealth Kissimmee.

“They hooked me up to an EKG and said you’re having a heart attack,” Jefrë said. “I just cashed out my 401(k) … and then I decided that instead of doing individual art pieces for buildings I wanted to create icons for cities.”

One of his first art competitions for a municipality was in Kissimmee. Jefrë said he won the competition and was set to build a glass square sculpture on the shores of Lake Toho.

“It was like a glass box of water,” he said. “But due to funding I guess, you know that was the time of the [economic] crash, the funding went away.”

The tragedy of Pulse has impacted not only survivors and their families, but county residents, as well.

“There’s a lot more people out there, it doesn’t just affect the survivors,” said St. Cloud Councilman Shawn Fletcher. “It’s something that I personally deal with everyday.”

Fletcher, the city’s first LGBTQ council member, pulled into the parking lot of the nightclub just before the shooting broke out but left because it was too crowded.

Now with a tribute set to go up in the county he hopes it will have an even greater impact.

“It’s already having an impact because people are talking about it,” Fletcher said, “It will educate the community because there’s a lot of people that didn’t realize that there were so many victims or survivors in Osceola County.”

The tribute also shines a light on change taking place within the community.

In May, Fletcher signed a proclamation declaring June as pride month for the first time in the city’s history.

“Awareness is definitely something that’s needed,” he said. “I think the tribute will engage citizens, residents and visitors to make St. Cloud and Osceola County a better place to live, work and play.”

Kristina Bozanich, St. Cloud resident and founder of the city’s first LGBTQ festival, said having the tribute in the county will help further educate the community about the diversity of their neighbors. The festival, Proud in the Cloud, takes place June 8.