Bill Barrett: 9/11 Memorial Sculpture to be Installed in New York City
On May 4th, sculptor and A&D alum Bill Barrett (BSDES ’58, MSDES ’59, MFA ’60) commemorates the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with the installation of a new bronze sculpture in Finn Square Park in Tribeca, New York. Entitled 911, the sculpture is part of a larger series of work, the Lexeme Series, that Barrett generated as a way to deal with the devastating events of September 11, 2001. “As a way to process what happened, I went to work in my studio. I started arranging shapes and forms, building compositions from my emotions and thoughts. I wanted to focus on the positive.”
In response, 911 features two massive 11-foot tall tower-like structures energized by organic forms moving over, around and through the two pillars, to “signify the energy and chaos and tragedy.” For Barrett, 911 and the Lexeme Series are ways to “highlight the strength of the human spirit. The series tells the story of humanity’s relationship to the towers: humans brought them into being, and humans will continue to create, even after their destruction. Installing 911 at Finn Square provides a way for me to generate positive energy to the area, to help renew our community.”
Barbara Fultz one of the directors of Friends of Finn Square agrees, “…I felt that the sculpture echoing and creating an abstraction of the visual forms of what we saw on 9/11 is regenerative, one of art’s gifts — memories we can bear to live with.”
Barrett received both his BFA and MFA from the School of Art & Design. In addition to his work in New York, three of Barrett’s large scale sculptures punctuate UM’s North and Central Campus – one at the Dental School, one at the School of Engineering and one at the School of Social Work. There is also a Bill Barrett sculpture at Ann Arbor’s City Hall.
His other commissions, both public and private, also include work for the City of Scottsdale; Schulman Sculpture Park in Purchase, New York; Neiman-Marcus; Lincoln National Life Insurance Company: Hobart Brothers; and Hitachi Corporation.
Barrett now divides his time between two studios — one in New York and one in Santa Fe.
For more Bill Barrett information and images go to http://www.billbarrettsculpture.com
Bill Barret Sculpture: 9/11 Sculpture in Tribeca
Tribeca Citizen: The Man Behind the Sculpture