Ann Marie McDonnell

The slow descent of the people going down the stairwells of the World Trade Center on 9/11 is not a visual memory for me but an oral one. I listened to the first-hand accounts as workers told of walking down the flights of stairs as they watched the serious faces of the firemen ascend the same stairs beside them and of passing disabled workers who were stranded or carried by others. I remember the quiet sadness of learning who among us knew the lost, saved or missing. The figures in this sculpture represent all these people as well as those of us who grieve them and the world that we once knew.

Faith is intrinsically interwoven into the events of 9/11 and its aftermath. A friend who worked on the 101st floor attended the 8:00 AM mass at Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine a few blocks away that morning. Because the priest was running late, my friend entered the WTC South Tower as the plane struck and unlike many of his colleagues, his life was saved. There are many stories of seemingly random circumstances or divine intervention and the death of loved ones that have deepened and tested people’s faith. We all learned more about the terrorists as well as the religion of Islam which does not condone violence. This knowledge did not stop the anti-Muslim backlash in our community and beyond. We learned that faith is both deeply personal and global and political. This sculpture underlines the implications and complicated history of faith that preceded 9/11 and will reach far into the future.