httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNCs_c5tzdI&feature=youtu.be
Video by Taylor du Pont and Julia Hardy
Bryn Pennetti & Julia Hardy
Arts, Entertainment & Technology Editors
With the eleventh anniversary of 9/11 just two weeks behind them, the Sculpture I, Advanced Studio Art and AP Studio Art classes took a field trip with the AP Photography class to New York to observe and photograph the 9/11 Memorial and High Line.
The field trip was formed so that students could better grasp the reasons for art and get inspired for their own work. All the classes plan to take the photographs and sketches from the trip and use them to create an exhibit.
Though still in construction, the 9/11 Memorial features two completed pools, each located where a tower once stood. Each pool is surrounded by a stone border, which is engraved with the thousands of names of those who died. Around these pools are paths and benches as well as the only surviving tree from the attack. Just outside the enclosure, visitors can see the breathtaking Freedom Tower, which has yet to be finished.
According to AP Photography teacher Jeanne McDonagh, it was the nearby location and high impact on our community that made visiting the 9/11 Memorial so crucial. “It’s important for our students to see and to experience this [memorial],” she said. “It’s touching base with the stories that they’ve heard and coming full circle and actually being here.”
For senior Annie Fox, the memorial paid the appropriate respects to the 9/11 victims and families. “I interned at [Voices of 9/11] this summer so I saw first hand the effect of 9/11 on family and I feel it’s really important to never forget,” she said. “We have to pay respect to them and I think that’s why we’re here. And I think that’s why memorializing them with photography and stuff is a really good idea.”
Following the emotionally shocking and artistically inspiring visit to the 9/11 memorial, the combined classes and teachers left Tribeca to visit another important sculpture-laiden spot in the city: the High Line. Contrasting the 9/11 Memorial, the NYC High Line gives any artistically inclined student a closer observation of sculpture.
The High Line was originally built in the 1930s as a way for trains to operate safely above the city streets rather than intersecting into daily life. Today, with the rail tracks still in place, the structure now serves as an above-ground park where citizens walk, eat and socialize.
Along the structure, students from AP Photo documented the trip by taking pictures of the life, both moving and stagnant, as well as the people crowding the long, winded pathways. Studio Art and Sculpture students took snapshots or drew sketches as they observed the sculptures, large and small, intertwined with areas in and around the High Line.
The students’ goal was to gain inspiration for their own work. “It was really inspirational to see all of the sculptures and how they are honored here on this walkway,” junior Marykate Conron said. “So now it makes me think about how I could make myself be better and be like these people that have been featured on this.”
Junior Myles Henderson also commented on how his sculptures would be specifically influenced by the ones scattered around the park. “I think that seeing the variety of sculptures that we got to see today is gonna widen what materials I can use or how high I should build up or even what it should look like,” he said.
After a long day, the majority of artistic students and faculty went home tired but full of experience gained from the inspirationally impacting trip.
Memorial @ your fingertips
As beautiful as the 9/11 memorial is, it can be overwhelming for most first-time visitors. Luckily, there are two 9/11 memorial and museum apps to enrich and simplify a visit to Ground Zero.
The first app, Explore 9/11, overviews the memorial with a seven-stop tour, contributed photographs from the day of the attacks and an interactive timeline. It also includes first-hand accounts about certain locations in the memorial to listen to.
For those with a personal connection to the attacks, the 9/11 Memorial Guide can help visitors to find the exact location of a certain victim’s name from around the pools or a certain sponsored cobblestone from the plaza area. Because the memorial groups names by their affiliation, it can be cumbersome to find the location of a name without this search tool.
Use one or both of these apps during your visit to maximize your time and fully enjoy the beauty that has arisen from such a horrible tragedy. Both apps are available for all Apple products.
Don’t forget your High Line app
Planning a trip to the High Line? Get a preview and on-site personal guide with the “On the High Line” app.
This application includes many features that will make your next trip to the New York City High Line an added experience. Find expert photos and videos, a history of the famous structure, an interactive map of the entire High Line and the locations of available shops and restaurants. It even includes that added ability to use photos from your trip to create personalized postcards to send to friends and family.
The app is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and gives you the full tour of this above-ground park right at your fingertips.
