9/11 Exhibit Home| | Museum Home Page

View pictures of our community in reflection, remembrance and hope...

Wednesday, September 11
at Noon
Burt Chernow Galleries

Please join...

Senator Bill Finch and James Stephenson, sponsors of the Remembrance Day Bill

Reverend Dr. Anthony L. Benett, Pastor of Mount Aery Baptist Church, Bridgeport
and Janis M. Hadley, President, HCC

for a special reception in honor of the 1st anniversary commemorating the tragedy of September 11, 2001

Spencer Cosgrove of Fairfield High School will perform an original song entitled "Dawn" written about September 11

Wednesday, September 11
10am until 4pm

Wednesday, October 2, Noon
Room A101

Lunch and Lecture
Thomas Hoepker - Magnum photographer and organizer of the book New York September 11 by Magnum Photographers will discuss the power of images, how they inform our perceptions and understanding of current events and history.

This is a free event but space reservations are required please call 203.332.5052 to reserve your seat. Bring your own brown bag lunch. The museum will not be providing food or beverages.

Share your thoughts of September 11... respond in your own words to these images and the exhibit...

Music of our times... Read about the sound track of the exhibit, music inspired by this tragedy and the strength of the nation.

The opening of this exhibit was held on September 11, 2002
in conjunction with Connecticut's first observance of Remembrance Day

Aidan , daughter of Museum Director Robbin Zella handed out programs for the event.

HCC President Dr. Janis Hadley discusses the exhibition with Senator Bill Finch and Robbin Zella, Museum Director.

The opening included a September 11th memorial ceremony. Here, spiritual thoughts and prayer are offered by Reverend Dr. Anthony L. Benett, pastor of Mount Aery Baptist Church.

John Fabrizi, President of the Bridgeport City Council shares his reflections as other council members look on. The exhibit was sponsored, in part, by the City Council.

Senator Bill Finch listens as Central High School student James Stephenson speaks about his essay that helped bring about legislation declaring September 11th Remembrance Day.

Spencer Cosgrove, a senior at Fairfield High School, performed an original song , Dawn, written as a response to September 11th.

The event drew a standing-room-only crowd to the Gallery. Attendees included city and state officials, local business leaders, HCC faculty, staff and students as well as employees of downtown businesses.

The audience joins Dr. Hadley in singing Amazing Grace at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Dr. Hadley congratulates James Stephenson on his essay and his efforts to help bring about the Remembrance Day legislation.

Senator Finch with Spencer Cosgrove and HCC professor Marie Nulty at the reception.

A special area of the exhibit is dedicated to pictures offered by members of our community. These images can be viewed on our web site.

Our Community Reflects...
Images and words offered by our community and friends...

9/11 Exhibit Home| | Museum Home Page

Essay dated January 10, 2002, by James Stephenson of Bridgeport, junior at Central High School
This letter was part of an essay contest, prompted the State Legislature, to declare September 11 a Day of Remembrance.

On September 11th 2001 American suffered one of its most devastating attacks ever. Soon after you did not see anyone without his or her American flag or hear someone saying God Bless America. But then slowly the patriotism slowly died down. Some do not even realize that ground zero is still being worked on as we speak. Then before we knew it patriotism became a thing of the past. But we can never forget such a day, the men that died, the individuals that we are so proud of, and the honor of our country. Therefore I suggest we make September 11th an official holiday in Connecticut.

I choose to write about September 11th because I wanted to do something right. When I look at what happened I just want to go fight the war myself, but I am too young. So, by at least putting this idea out in the open I can feel like I did something in the end.

Making this an official holiday does not mean we have to get a day out of school. Instead of cramming algebraic equations in our heads we could take maybe ten minutes out of a class and do something that will help us remember this unforgettable day. For example we can start and end the day in silence, then go around the classroom and discuss what we remember and how we feel about what happened. And to the young ones who do not know what happened, have their teacher, parent or guardian explain to them what occurred and why we do this on this day. We must also stress that we are still the strongest and freest country we will ever see. We will call this day Remembrance Day.

If you are working on this day, everyone on the job should stop working for five minutes. What these people can do since they have to get back to work is maybe face the flag and say the (P)pledge of (A)allegiance keying in on the last phrase “with freedom and justice for all.” After that just a moment of silence and then back to work.

The whole idea of this day is to remember the men and women who died on this day. Remembering the children who aren’t able to see their father(s) or mother(s) or both any longer, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and all others who lost friends and family. Let us remember how bless(ed) we are to be alive, well, and free something I can say we all take for granted.

I am not asking for anything big just let us remember. We do not have to make it a holiday, but rather a day of remembrance. Ask someone to do something special that they normally would not do. Who knows maybe by Connecticut doing this that (the) rest of the nation may want to catch on and do it as well. Thank you for your time, and have a blessed day.

here is new york is not a conventional gallery show. It is something new, a show tailored to the nature of the event, and to the response it has elicited. The exhibition is subtitled "A Democracy of Photographs" because anyone and everyone who has taken pictures relating to the tragedy is invited to bring or ftp their images to the gallery (in SOHO) , where they will be digitally scanned, archivally printed and displayed on the walls alongside the work of top photojournalists and other professional photographers.

All of the prints which here is new york displays will be sold to the public for $25, regardless of their provenance. The net proceeds will go to the Children's Aid Society WTC Relief Fund, for the benefit of the thousands of children who are among the greatest victims of this catastrophe.

The causes and effects of the events of 9/11/2001 are by no means clear, and will not be for a very long time. What is clear, though, is this: in order to restore our sense of equilibrium as a nation, as a city, and particularly as a community, we need to develop a new way of looking at and thinking about history, as well as a way of making sense of all of the images which continue to haunt us.

15 images displayed have been purchased by members of the Housatonic community for inclusion in the Houstonic Museum of Art's permanent collection. These images are a visual record of the attack on and destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001. The photographs serve as a reminder that America, as powerful as we are perceived to be by ourselves and others, is not, in fact, invulnerable.

To view the images in the HMA collection The 15 images purchased by members of the HCC Community

here is new york: a democracy of photographs The here is new york web site offers almost all of the 6000 images that have been collected. You may also purchase images as well as the book here is new york.

Weir Farm National Historic Site and the
Weir Farm Trust

Weir Farm, purchased in 1882 by the artist J. Alden Weir, occupies a prominent place within the history of American art. The Farm’s rocky pastures and dense woods were a source of inspiration for some of Weir’s best work, securing his role as a major and pioneering figure in the American Impressionist movement. Museums across the country own numerous works of art that were created at the Farm by Weir and his wide circle of friends including Childe Hassam, Albert Pinkham Ryder, John Singer Sargent, and John Twachtman to name a few. The home, studio, farm buildings and landscape integral to Weir’s artistic vision have survived intact, making it the finest remaining landscape of American Impressionism.

In 1990, following a twenty-seven year preservation effort that joined community and environmental activists, artists, art historians, local, state and federal officials, Congress established Weir Farm National Historic Site as Connecticut’s first National Park and the only one in the country devoted to American painting. The Farm included the 60-acre historic core located in the towns of Ridgefield and Wilton.

Recognizing the importance of preserving this rich artistic legacy, the Weir Farm Trust, a private, nonprofit organization, grew out of a grassroots effort in the seventies to save the Farm. The Trust has since worked in partnership with the National Park Service to implement the long-range plan for development and preservation of the Farm’s profoundly significant resources.

The Trust’s mission is to promote awareness of the Farm’s history and artistic tradition, facilitate its use by contemporary artists, provide educational opportunities, and preserve the Farm’s unique environment. Through its innovative programs and activities, the Trust brings artists and audiences to Weir Farm and seeks to build community and financial support to help ensure its success as a cultural, educational and creative center.

For more information about programs and activities at Weir Farm, please call the Weir Farm Trust at (203) 761-9945 or the National Park Service at (203) 834-1896 for information about tours.

Or you can visit the Weir Farm web site...

Weir Farm Visiting Artists Program

Drawing inspiration from its magical landscape, artists have lived and worked at Weir Farm for 120 years. Underlying the significance of Weir Farm National Historic Site is the preservation of an extraordinary facet of America’s artistic heritage. Equally important, is the preservation of an environment where contemporary artists can thrive. This environment includes not only the physical landscape, but also an atmosphere in which the creative spirit is both fostered and nurtured. Providing outstanding opportunities for promising artists within the context of this environment is a mandate of the Weir Farm Trust and is critical to the success of the long-range management plan of the Farm.

The Visual Artists Program including both resident and visiting artists is the cornerstone of the Trust’s programs for professional artists and is central to its mission. The Visiting Artists component was originally envisioned as the first step towards the development of the residency program. Artists apply to the program in all visual art forms and are selected primarily on the quality of their work through a competitive panel process. These artists have reached a level of maturity in their work and have thoughtfully considered why they would like to work at the Farm. Using Weir Farm as an open air studio, participating artists work over the course of a year to create a cohesive body of work influenced by his or her own experiences of the Farm’s cultural and natural resources.

Since its beginning in 1991, the program has attracted Guggenheim, Fullbright, National Endowment of the Arts Fellows and Connecticut Commission on the Arts grant recipients, as well as winners of other national and international residency and fellowship awards. We are very pleased with this year's outstanding visiting artists Richard Lang Chandler, Maureen Cummins, Steven Dolbin, Camille Eskell, Thomas Mezzanotte and Michael Torlen.

After the conclusion of the work period and as a key benefit of the program, each group of visiting artists is presented in a museum exhibition. We extend our deepest thanks to The Housatonic Museum of Art and to Robbin Zella, Director, for presenting this exhibition of the 2001 Weir Farm Visiting Artists.

J. Alden Weir had a lifelong commitment to nurturing other artists. His spirit is alive and well at the Farm, due in great part to the artists who come to immerse themselves in their work, having been captured by the landscape that continues to inspire.

Constance Evans
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
THE WEIR FARM TRUST

FOREWORD

BY ROBBIN ZELLA, Director, Housatonic Museum of Art

Terrorism. Unspeakable acts. Unthinkable events.

These words explain recent events in New York and Washington, D.C. but less than 40 years ago, these same words could have been used to describe a tumultuous period in American history marked by murders, bombings, and riots.

"The Sixties" was a time of immense political and social upheaval in this country - the struggle for Civil Rights, the Days of Rage, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the Women's Liberation movement and Gay Rights movement, and the emergence of a counterculture were periodically punctuated by assassinations: John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Artist Robert Templeton witnessed the race riots in Detroit, the illustration of which appeared on the August 4, 1967 cover of Time magazine. Deeply disturbed by this event, Templeton resolved to create a pictorial civil rights history to commemorate its leaders for future generations. Lest We Forget: Images of the Black Civil Rights Movement is comprised of 34 portraits completed over the course of twenty years by this nationally known portraitist and includes key figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Abernathy, Roy Wilkins, and Rosa Parks.

But while Templeton focused his energy creating these timeless portraits, photographers such as Gordon Parks, Charles Moore and James Karales captured candid shots from the front lines of the movement. Searing images of police dogs attacking demonstrators, firemen hosing down protesters, King being arrested, and the march from Selma to Montgomery, distributed in newspapers around the country as well as in photo-essays in Look and Life magazines, served to speed the cause of civil rights.

Reverend George Lee, Lamar Smith, Emmett Till, Willie Edwards, Jr., Louis Allen, Cpl. Ducksworth, Jr., and Viola Gregg Liuzzo are the ordinary heroes - black and white - memorialized in the film A Time For Justice. Produced by three-time Academy Award-winner Charles Guggenheim, this film is a moving account of the crises in Montgomery, Little Rock, Birmingham and Selma and is an homage to those who gave their lives for the cause of freedom and equality. Although the civil rights movement ended legal apartheid in this country and wrought significant changes in American life for African-Americans, women and other marginalized groups, it is nevertheless true that inequalities and racism remain, and so the struggle continues.

I would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this exhibit: Leonore and Kevin Templeton for the loan of Robert Templeton's work; Parker Stephenson, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York for assisting with the selection and loan of photographs, and Instructor Tony Ball for his comprehensive catalog essay. In addition, special thanks to Shelley Solomon, Assistant Principal at Hall High School in West Hartford and Professor Peter Ulisse for their contributions to educational programming; and to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Parrish Art Museum, Southhampton, NY; and Bobs M. Tusa, Librarian, University of Southern Mississippi for assistance with research; Dr. James Mooney for educational panels, Helen Barnett for public relations and Blaine Kruger for design.

Robbin Zella, Director, Housatonic Museum of Art

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