The memorial marble statue of Saint Katharine Drexel is located in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The slightly larger than life size statue, showing Mother Katharine with two children, is of Botticino marble and was carved by Italian craftsmen from a full scale plaster model. The design and full scale model were created by Maryland sculptor George Carr and the carving was executed by Franco Cervietti & Company of Pietrasanta, Italy.

The statue shows Mother Katharine as a warm, compassionate, and yet dynamic figure. As part of her life's work Mother Katharine used her inheritance and her energy to found schools in the southern United States serving African American children, and in the West serving Native Americans, this at a time when these groups were mostly overlooked by the rest of society. The African American boy and the Native American girl in the statue, who each carry a book, represent the thousands of children she helped by providing a means to an education and Christian enlightenment. The sculpture shows her surging ahead, urging her charges forward, at the same time providing them with encouragement and shelter.

The Saint Katharine Drexel statue's design has a symbolic content which may not be immediately apparent. Mother Katharine's pose, as she leans down from her full height to speak with the children, symbolizes the direction she took with her life: she was someone who started out at the highest rungs of society, but who spent her life helping those at the lowest. Another symbolic element of the sculpture is the windblown winter clothing worn by the students. The cold, harsh weather implied by this attire is a metaphor for the harsh social climate the children lived in, which was rife with poverty and racism.

In August, 2000, George Carr was asked to begin work on the design for the statue of Mother Katharine and for the next two years he worked on completing the sculpture. Snapshots of steps in the long process are displayed below. Significant contributions to the project were made by architect Anthony J. Segreti, stone contractor Brett Rugo of Rugo & Carosi and especially Franco Cervietti and his stone carvers.

Here the statue is being roughed out
with slabs of foamboard.

The finished plastilene full scale statue

Here one half of the plaster cast
is hoisted out of the mold.
The rubber layer is still attached
to the cast as both together
come out of the mother mold.

In the workshop of Franco Cervietti in Pietrasanta, Italy a stone carver is in the final stage of translating the full scale plaster model (foreground) into Botticino marble (background).