Article: HOSPITAL'S HISTORY IN ART FORM ; Sculpture welcoming visitors to the new center is 'almost ready'

As she stood outside the cafeteria at the new Penrose-St. Francis Medical Center on Wednesday, Marica Hefti had about 24 hours to make her newest sculpture, "Three Sisters," finished-looking.

But after six months of planning and sculpting -- and two more weeks of installation -- being down to the wire on this giant project didn't seem to faze her.

"We need to install the lights, still, but other than that, it's almost ready," she said, gesturing to metals artist Nicolas Ordahl.

Ordahl had climbed inside the steel tree, engraved with a portrait of St. Francis, arms stretched skyward and surrounded by birds, that forms the anchor of the piece.

"I wanted to have him reaching over everything ...

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