Remembering and Honoring artist Michael Rolando Richards
We remember our dear friend and colleague artist Michael Richards, who perished in his studio in one of the World Trade Center towers. Please read about his life and work on About.com: Art History.
He was best know for his Tuskegee Airmen Series. Here is one:
The Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian, 1999
Please view the permanent installation of Are You Down? on the website for Franconia State Park.
We still miss you, Michael.
Artist Todd Stone Remembers:
Todd Stone, 4 Raising, 2012
How can we adequate commemorate in art over 3,000 people who perished on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center towers, Shanksville, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, plus those who died or live with chronic ailments because they worked at Ground Zero? Todd Stone answered this question 11 years ago as he witnessed the attacks on the WTC towers from his studio in Lower Manhattan. He recorded what he saw and he continues to record the rebirth of the site. Recently he sent me a new image, 4 Raising, which interprets the shiny resilient surface and spirit of this new building at 150 Greenwich Street.
Upon completion, the buildings at the former WTC should look like this:
A digital illustration of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 WTC
To learn more about Todd Stone's September 11th series Witness and Downtown Rising, please visit his website: www.toddstone.com and read my review of his 2011 exhibition at 7 World Trade Center, which included poetry readings and other commemorative events. A film of the events on August 27, 2011 entitled Witness Downtown Rising Renga premiered last March. The next venue will be Berlin's ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, October 18-21, 2012.
