The £1.3 million landmark, known as the Dream, aims to be the region's answer to the North East's Angel of the North.
It has been commissioned by councillors in St Helens, Merseyside, and will be placed on the top of a former spoil heap at a shut-down coal mine.
The design, the head of a girl with her eyes closed, will be made of pre-cast concrete, with a white, slightly luminescent finish using a white marble and concrete mix.
The materials are designed to contrast with the black of the coal that still lies below.
The Dream was chosen by former miners at the Sutton Manor colliery and local residents in talks with artist Jaume Plensa.
A spokeswoman said the panel ''wanted a piece that looked to a brighter future and created a beautiful and contemplative space for future generations''.
Gary Conley, who was part of the group of former miners from Sutton Manor, said: ''When we were approached over two years ago to nominate the site, the ex-miners of the focus group and I would have been happy to just have a memorial erected on the site.
''Now, our eyes have been opened to what art can mean to a community. Consequently we wanted something that was more than just another mining monument.''
Plensa, who has exhibited across the world, added: ''My work is first and foremost about celebrating life and the human experience of standing in between past and present, present and future, knowledge and ignorance.''

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