Not far from the Ferris wheel at the Marin County Fair, on the main path into the fair’s center, stood a symbol of Ukraine — a 30-foot-tall sunflower made of plywood created by a Marin County architect.

San Rafael-based architect Daniel Castor wanted to make a statement in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

“What is going on in Ukraine is heartbreaking,” said Castor. “People were sending food and clothing and I thought — what can I send?”

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Castor and a group of about a dozen high school and college students, artists and friends started work on the sunflower June 1. It took almost a month to create the sunflower, which was finished June 27.

“The primary stem is made out of sheets of half-inch-thick plywood glued, screwed and bolted together,” Castor said. “We made a stencil for the petals and cut them with a jigsaw.”

The petals are made of quarter-inch flexible plywood, and the center of the flower is made out of brown paper and tape.

San Rafael-based architect Daniel Castor worked with high school and college students, artist and friends for nearly a month to build this giant sunflower — a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine on display at the Marin County Fair over the holiday weekend. (Photo courtesy Daniel Castor)

“We made 540 separate flowers by hand and glued them on,” Castor said.

When the fair in San Rafael ended Monday night, thousands of people had seen the flower, which Castor describes as a war memorial.

“No flower lasts forever. And all wars must come to an end. We pray that the end of the suffering will come soon,” he said.