Virginia Beach to use dolphin sculptures as symbols of hope
June 20, 2005 - (WVEC.com)

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Norfolk has mermaids, Richmond has rockfish and Virginia Beach will soon be getting sculptures of dolphins scattered throughout the city.

The City Countil this week approved a plan by a nonprofit group to place life-sized dolphin sculptures in at least 50 public places and elsewhere throughout the city.

The group, A Dolphin's Promise, hopes to raise at least $1 million through the project and share the money with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity set up by the famous bicycle racer and cancer survivor to raise funds for cancer research.

Other money will help fund the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's rescue and rehabilitation efforts for marine mammals and sea turtles.

"I want the dolphins to stand as symbols of hope -- that cancer is something we can beat," said Cindy Graf, president of A Dolphin's Promise and the idea creator.

"I also want people to see these dolphins and smile," she said.

For $3,500, a donor can request a dolphin be placed in a yard or in front of a business. The price tag for a dolphin in a public location will start at $5,000.

Already 32 Sandbridge residents already placed orders for the sculptures.

Sponsors donating $15,000 or more will be flown to Austin, Texas, to bike alongside Armstrong in the Ride for the Roses. The nonprofit also covers hotel accommodations.

Graf, a Sandbridge photographer and artist, said she was looking for a way to raise money for cancer research after her mother died from the disease in 1999. Her mother often visited Graf at her Sandbridge home and would swim out to see the dolphins.

The dolphins will be decorated by artists who will be paid for each design used.