Marie-Josee Kerschen was the first sculptor from Western Europe to take part in the granite-carving symposium in Klaipėda.

Before beginning her work, she asked Lithuanians: ‘What is your national bird?’

The answer was the stork.

Kerschen often depicted women in bird form, and she continued that theme in her work in Klaipėda, creating a legend of the Lithuanian desire for freedom. In the summer of 1987, three years before the restoration of independence, she sensed that the Lithuanian people were already ripe for freedom. She carved a woman-stork, her head tucked under her wing, preparing for flight.

For flight means freedom.

Unlike most sculptures in the park, this work was carved not from granite, but from black basalt.