Making of 9/11 Memorial Exhibit Opens Sept 10th

Written by Westchester.com
Monday, 21 August 2006
White Plains, NY - “A Community Comes Together: The Making of The Rising, Westchester County September 11th Memorial” opens to the public September 7th.

Rod by rod, welded together one segment at a time, The Rising, Westchester’s September 11th Memorial, was assembled like the pieces of a gigantic erector set -- except that it was made with 10,000 linear feet of stainless steel that weighed 18 tons. And, instead of a group of youngsters, it took a brilliant team of artists, architects, engineers, computer designers, and skilled technicians and laborers to make it happen.

“A Community Comes Together: The Making of The Rising, Westchester County September 11th Memorial,” is a multi-media exhibition chronicling its five-year development. It will open to the public on September 7th and remain on view through September 26th at the Westchester Arts Council’s Arts Exchange Building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains. “The completion of The Rising marks a most significant milestone for Westchester,” County Executive Andy Spano said. “It is unique in the world and making the transition from concept to construction involved protocols and techniques that had never been tried before. It is important for the public to know—once they visit the memorial—exactly what went into creating it.”

The Rising is an 80-foot high stainless steel sculpture designed by world-renowned architect Frederic Schwartz to honor the 109 Westchester residents who died in the tragedies of September 11th. The memorial is situated at the eastern corner of the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla, and it will be formally dedicated on Sunday September 10th.

The exhibition features a wide selection of photographs, videos, architectural drawings, computerized images and other works that illustrate each stage of development. On display will be models of the structure during the design process, design drawings of the Circle of Remembrance portion and samples of the nodes that were cast to refine the shape of the sculpture.

Over 400 individuals—donors, workers, designers—will be honored along with family members at a private reception preceding the opening. “The memorial could never have happened without the hard work, determination and dedication of so many people,” Spano said. “We need to say thank you to those, who with their checkbooks, and to those, who with their hands, made The Rising possible.”“I also want to thank The Hudson River Museum, the Westchester Arts Council and Frederic Schwartz Architects all of whom helped our Communications Office put this exhibit together,’’ he added.

The Arts Exchange is located at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, at the corner of Martine Avenue, in White Plains. The Janet Peckham Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. It will also be open on Monday, September 11th, from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.