9/11 Memorial Artist Launches Nationwide “Project 11up”

Nov. 9, 2011 - PRLog -- Fort Myers, FL – Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - As salvaged steel sections from the World Trade Center were publicly being awarded around the country for 9/11 memorials, Sandra (San) Priest was the only artist commissioned - covertly - to create sculptures out of the concrete slurry wall, or “bathtub” foundation surrounding Ground Zero.  With the recent completion and unveiling of that first memorial sculpture, Priest, is now proud to nationally announce the launch of “Project 11up.”  The project entails the creation of a total of eleven unique sculptures, each carved from the original wall of the Trade Center that will be placed around the country so that Americans everywhere will have a tangible way to honor the lives lost in the September 11, 2001 tragedy.

“My deepest desire is to connect people across the U.S. with the memories – and the healing – of 9/11,” said Priest, a nationally recognized mural and sculpture artist.  She spent eight intense months creating the official memorial sculpture from a 4-ton piece of the concrete wall supporting the World Trade Center. The inaugural sculpture is titled “VICTORII REBUILD.” San adds, “I see these sculptures as the foundation of the rebuilding of our nation.”

San lived in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, area in 2006-08, where she came up with the idea of placing 11 concrete sculptures around the country to commemorate 9/11.  She first thought concrete pipe would be her medium, but could not get the project off the ground in a timely manner.  She built a website around her idea and five years later, in December 2010, was contacted through the website to create the first concrete sculpture from the World Trade Center wall as a gift for New York City.  She learned that the blocks were being stored in Lehigh Valley – the same place her vision for “Project 11up” was born.

The first 10,000-pound block of the concrete wall arrived at Priest’s studio in early 2011, a few months after she received the call from the company that removed the concrete from the World Trade Center site. The slab arrived draped in an American flag that was ceremoniously removed and folded by four Marines in full dress uniform.

The concrete was embedded with an old style of rebar that is no longer made, and studded with beautiful aggregate stones.  Eight months later it left Priest’s studio as a finely crafted testimony to the loss and heroism of 9/11. Its V-shape on top, some say, stands for victory, and two parallel pieces of rebar in the base represent the number 11. The base sides were kept rough so viewers could see the wall exactly as it was when it came out of the ground. Binary code for DC, PA, and NY, NY are carved into the smaller block on top and the sides of the ‘V’. San chose binary code for a more subtle look, to ease viewers conception of the tragedy. It is the only artwork ever made from the concrete slurry wall foundation of the World Trade Center.

Today, the sculpture sits proudly in front of the City Hall complex in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, while awaiting a permanent spot in New York City.  It was installed on the 10th anniversary of the attack this past September. Priest is now pouring her talent, sweat, patriotism and determination into the additional sculptures that will complete her “Project 11up”.

“I have traveled all over the U.S. and talked to many people about the project,” said Priest, whose passion to promote national rebuilding and healing through her artwork is uncontainable. “Everyone has some kind of connection to that day. They long to pay their respects, but don’t have anything nearby to be able to do that. When these sculptures are placed strategically all over the U.S., they will be within driving distance to many who could have a physical way to experience healing from 9/11 without having to go to New York.”  San especially wants sculptures placed in Hawaii and Alaska, knowing from her travels just how disconnected people are from these most remote states.

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan understands Priest’s desire to make the sculptures accessible to all Americans. “Our residents have responded in a very real and dramatic way to the sculpture,” Callahan said. “Nobody can walk by without stopping to look at it and touch it. It is a very powerful and very beautiful piece, and I’m quite sure wherever the other sculptures are placed, the people who live there will have a similar response.”
Many people were unintentionally and uniquely involved in the sculpture project. For example:
·       Husqvarna, one of the world’s largest producers of power products, shipped a brand new commercial grade, wire saw prototype, to make its maiden cut on the sculpture.  Three national representatives of the company surprised Priest when they arrived with the saw to run the machine and witness the first cut.
·       Priest went to a local store to purchase wet saws, when the salesman became emotional. He had been living close to Ground Zero when the Trade Center towers were attacked and fell. He and his wife relocated to Fort Myers after finding it too painful to stay in New York City.
·       Family owned plumbing, photography, electrical and crane companies called to offer assistance “at just the right time,” taking no fees for their services.
Ironically, the concrete used to construct the Trade Center wall originally came from an area near Bethlehem, PA, which is only 70 miles from New York City. The salvaged pieces of concrete were removed and are currently being stored at a company in that same town. Mayor Callahan insists it was “beyond just coincidence” that the sculpture is now sitting on his City Hall plaza.
Priest may be the first artist to ever carve a sculpture out of such a massive piece of concrete. Most concrete artists pour wet concrete into molds to make their sculptures. The World Trade Center concrete is unique because it was poured in the mid 1960’s and had a long time to cure under great pressure from the towers and other buildings in the area. Parts of the concrete blocks are as much as 14,000 PSI (pounds per square inch) in density.
As Priest announces her plans for the launch of “Project 11up” to the nation for the first time today, she is currently negotiating a commission from another mayor in the U.S. who has requested a proposal for the next piece. Priest also recently created and loaned a smaller sculpture to the Oregon State University Memorial Hall, so the school can raise funds to place a larger “Project 11up” sculpture on campus. She is excited to share this project with Americans across the country. There are now only nine blocks of the wall remaining, and Priest is reviewing sculpture requests from other states across the country that would like to commission a “Project 11up” sculpture.
“This concrete does not belong to any one entity now,” says Priest. “It belongs to everyone.”


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Connie Ramos-Williams | CONRIC PR & Marketing

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