I didn’t get to New York City last week to repatriate my Evilution panels. Instead, I watched   the TV in horror as Hurricane Sandy left a trail of devastation along the coast of New York and New Jersey. As it sent a 11 foot surge of seawater into lower Manhattan at high tide my heart sank. Four of the my five panels, honoring the innocent victims of conflict, were in the basement of St Peter’s Church near ground Zero. The fifth is now part of the permanent collection of the National September 11 Memorial Museum three floors below the World Trade Centre just two blocks away.  

So ironic I thought, that my works (symbols of man’s destructiveness) may now have been destroyed so close to ground Zero, the catalyst for their creation and by a force greater than man can create. Or maybe, as some have already pointed out, man did have a hand - by destroying vast areas of rain forrest.

And what of my friends in Manhattan and New Jersey I thought. I cannot contact them, so are they without power, heat, water, phone contact and the basic necessities for survival?

Last night I received the first replies to the many e-mails I have been sending.  One friend has lost his home in Brooklyn -- see photo of him and his family surveying the wreckage. Other friends are well but living in what they describe as a ‘war zone’ with shops running low on food. The only piece of good news is that the panels were not flooded at the church. I still cannot contact the museum.  As I hear more and revise my plans, this page,will be updated along with my website and Facebook pages

911 panel for 911 Museum

I am now very pleased and honoured to say that, following discussions with Jan Ramirez, Chief Curator and Director of Collections of the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Centre, the 911 panel will now be exhibited there as part of its permanent collection. I delivered it to their offices last week pending the opening of the museum next year.

In a recent statement Jan Ramirez welcomed the acquisition adding, " As we work to build an encyclopaedic museum collection that engages with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the broadest cultural context, the recent donation of Roy Ray's 911 sculpture seems custom ordered to this mission. As a piece of response art, it provokes haunting memories of the inconceivable destruction of 2/4 mile high skyscrapers......".

The end of a journey

The long journey of the five panels “Where Their Footsteps Left No Trace” from their first showing in 2008 at the Falmouth Art Gallery, at Truro Cathedral, St Ives Parish Church and Coventry Cathedral has now come to an end at St Peter’s Church near ground Zero in New York. At their installation there last July, they were blessed by Father Madigan. I then dedicated the 911 panel to Rick Rescorla, Father Michael Judge and the First Responders that day who gave their lives attempting to rescue others (see my last blog). I then gifted the panel to the city of New York.

Where Their Footsteps Left No Trace at Ground Zero

After a year in Coventry Cathedral, my five sculptural panels entitled ‘Where Their Footsteps Left No Trace’ which highlight our ability to turn the most awesome developments in science and technology into the means of destroying places and innocent people, are now installed in St Peter’s Church near Ground Zero, New York.

On July 30th I attended a reception there at which they were blessed by the church pastor, Father Madigan and dedicated by me to Father Mychal Judge a chaplain to the New York Fire Service, Rick Rescorla a Cornish born security officer in the South Tower who saved the lives of over 2700 people before losing his own and to the 9/11 First Responders including the 343 firefighters who were killed that day.

Rick Rescorla’s widow Susan addressed the 130 gathered in the church praising the First Responders and speaking of the profound effect of first seeing my panels in Coventry. I spoke of the origins of my project drawing parallels between the resilience of New Yorkers ten years ago and that of my parents generation during the Blitz of 1940.

Since making the 9/11 panel I have made many friends among those whose lives were changed forever that day and, as such, feel able to share their tragedy. I therefore decided, as a token of sympathy and friendship, to gift the 9/11 panel to the people of New York City. This was warmly welcomed by those present

Before and after the ceremony the pipes and drums of the FDNY Emerald Society played on the steps of St Peter’s at the foot of which a beautifully restored vintage fire engine was stationed. Known as ‘Engine 343 “ it is dedicated to the firefighters lost on 9/11.

The local press and television were present as was the London Times. Susan Rescorla and I gave several interviews and were photographed many times with the panels and people from all sections of the community.

Finally, preceded by ‘Fire Riders’ on their Harley Davidsons and with much cheering and waving, Susan and I were driven a short distance through New York streets aboard ‘Engine 343’ for refreshments at an Irish pub.

New York New York !!!

I leave tomorrow for New York for what promises to be an eventful weekend. My five Evilution panels are now safely at St Peter's Church close to Ground Zero and await my arrival to unpack and hang them in readiness for Saturday's reception. That event will start with pipers from the FDNY playing on the steps of the church followed by the performance of songs that relate to 9/11. Father Madigan will then bless the panels . Susan Rescorla , widow of Cornish born Rick who led over 2700 people to safety before losing his life as the South Tower collapsed, will introduce the panels and invite me to speak about them and my project. I will then dedicate the 9/11 panel to Father Mychal Judge, a chaplain to the FDNY who was victim 0001 on that day, Rick Rescorla and the 9/11 First Responders. Then we are all going to a nearby Irish pub for me to meet everyone ( and possibly have a drink! ). The rest of my trip is in the 'lap of the Gods'. I'll be collecting as much info and as many photos of the event as I can and will be publishing everything via my Blogspot, website, Facebook, Twitter and next newsletter. Watch this space!!

I recently held a reception in my studio for members of the St Ives Rotary Club. John Hancock, Chairman of their community Services presented me with a cheque for £250 to help with the cost of sending the five panels, 'Where Their Footsteps Left No Trace', ( behind the group in the photo above ) to Ground Zero New York to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

The exhibition 'Looking Forward Looking Back ' opened for two weeks at the Crypt Gallery St Ives on Saturday 4th. June with the prime intention of showing the "Evilution' panels before their departure to Ground Zero, New York to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The show also featured a number of other works including a series of small constructions using fragments of poems, old photos and ephemera relating to the Western Front trenches of the First World War. The Revd. Canon Philip Lambert of Truro Cathedral spoke of the remarkable spiritual journey the panels had made and John Hancock of the St Ives Rotary Club echoed those sentiments adding that he hoped the exhibition would help to raise the neccessary funds to get the panels to New York and back. It was also the 30th anniversary of my first solo exhibition which was held at the former Salthouse Gallery ( just a few yards away !! ). A selection of landscape related works from those thirty years were also on show. I spent each day in the gallery and in addition to many interesting conversations, witnessed many moving reactions to the panels. I am pleased to say that by the end of the exhibition there had been 1300 visitors and fundraising was on target.