Name: Rockaway 11 Placement: Fall 2024
Location: Gander, Newfoundland, Canada
Curator: Gander Newfoundland Firehouse
Weight: 420 lbs. 22”tall x 15” x15” sculpture will be mounted on a 3.5 ft. square base
9/11 memorial sculpture made from an actual 420 lb. cut out section of the original concrete foundation wall that surrounded the World Trade Center in New York City, NY. This is part of Project 911UP, an historical body of works as 9/11 memorials.
The Gander, Newfoundland, Canadian sculpture wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for Charles (Chuck) and Brenda Matchim from the town of Happy Adventure, Newfoundland. I met them at a tradeshow in 2020, just before they had to make their way back to Canada quickly. COVID restrictions on traveling were clamped down between our countries. We persevered for a couple years now and the sculpture will be there in 2024.
When I met them, we started talking bout having one of the Project 911up sculptures in Canada. I told them I wanted to only consider the town of Gander because it is where 38 planes traveling from across the Atlantic had to be grounded because air travel had halted for safety reasons on that day. The small town of Gander took care of housing and feeding over 7,000 people from those planes for 5 days while everyone waited for the air space to open back up. There has been a play written about that time and it is called Come From Away. This play has gone all around the world to tell the story of the heroic and selfless acts of the townspeople in Gander and some of the other communities all over the Island Province of Newfoundland, Canada.
Chuck and Brenda have had me stay at their Inn in the town of Happy Adventure for the past couple years. The Happy Adventure Inn, right on the water, is the loveliest of places to lay your head down at night, eat at their gourmet restaurant and take in the sights. Their daughter Shar-lett and son-in-law James run the Inn as the most accommodating couple there ever was. I cannot think of a better place to get to know the locals who will be placing this 9/11 Memorial permanently on Newfoundland soil. Here is a link to their establishment. A Facebook video: https://fb.watch/qwBrjrwMkU/ or in print: https://roadtripper.ca/happy-adventure-is-a-family-affair-in-central-newfoundland/
This sculpture Rockaway11, will be placed in the fall of 2024.
Rockaway 11 gets its name from Newfoundland being nicknamed The Rock and from the play and story of Come From Away, the story of all the love and caring the people gave to the weary and worried passengers on all those 38 planes that landed there on 9/11/2001.
We are so very thankful to the Happy Adventure Inn located in Happy Adventure, Newfoundland Canada for supporting our mission in the healing and spreading awareness of Project 911UP. They were recently featured on Roadtripper.ca, this is a short sampling: “Here, putting forward the best......
The article provides a brief overview of Sandra Priest, an American artist known for her sculptures and public art installations. It highlights her involvement in various projects, including the creation of memorials dedicated to the victims of 9/11. The article mentions her collaboration with New......
The article discusses the collaboration between New York City and Fort Myers, Florida, in creating a Ground Zero art project. This project involves transforming sections of the concrete slurry wall from the original World Trade Center site into sculptures to serve as memorials. It highlights......