Tribute in Light
Artists Julian LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda, architects John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi of PROUN Space Studio, architect Richard Nash Gould, and lighting designer Paul Marantz
March 11, 2002-ongoing
World Financial Center
Images courtesy of CharlieSamuels.com
Since 2002, a vast network of spotlights has been temporarily installed downtown, first during the sixth-month anniversary of 9/11 and then annually thereafter. Known as Tribute in Light , the project consists of two shafts of light projected upward to produce a shimmering, ethereal surrogate for the absent towers. The white luminescence not only replaces the void in New York’s skyline with a sense of memory and the possibility of hope and rebirth, but its ghostly presence is also a moving commemoration of the thousands of men and women who died on September 11th. Immaterial, yet powerfully resonant, Tribute in Light reaches out into the stratosphere—the ultimate symbol of how Creative Time’s unique approach to public art is capable of something both profound and transformative.
Shortly after the September 11th attacks, a creative time of artists, architects, designers, and non-profit organizations joined forces in the realization of this commemorative monument. Thanks to the generosity of the Battery Park City Authority, the site for the project was secured on an empty construction lot adjacent to Ground Zero in order to avoid interfering with the rebuilding process and in an effort to be sensitive to Lower Manhattan residents. Upon its initial display, the project received immense laudatory press coverage, ranging from CNN and National Public Radio to Art in America and Newsday. The organizations involved also received and responded to over twelve thousand letters of support from people around the world, which provided the producers with valuable insight into the public’s sentiments and opinions towards the project.
Produced in collaboration with the Municipal Art Society.