TRIBUTE ART PART II: AMERICA’S CAMP:
COLLABORATIVE CREATION OF THE PHEONIX
After we created our individual art piece for Engine 54, we read about
America’s Camp. America’s Camp is an annual, one week, sleep away-camp for
children who lost a parent or sibling as a result of the 9/11 attacks, as well
as children or siblings of firefighters and law enforcement officers killed in
the line of duty. It was at this camp that children created the phoenix, with each
child asked to paint or draw one “feather.” The feather could be based on a
person they wished to honor or their memories of the day, and the imagery could
be figurative or metaphoric. Each student’s creation was then converted into a
feather shape and attached to a sculpture frame. The Phoenix combines the
individual expressions of the children to create a new expression of rebirth
and resilience.
Traci Molloy, Project Designer at
America’s Camp explains the choice of a phoenix, “in mythology, when the phoenix
dies it bursts into flames. It is reborn out of its own ashes, thus never
really dying. The phoenix holds a position of high honor, reserved for
individuals who demonstrate virtue and strength.”
We created our phoenix by using copies of our original drawings and letters to make the feathers. We then collaged our feathers with tissue paper and placed them together to form the wings. The phoenix not only represents Engine 54, but all of New York City to us. The city, as well as the fire department, rose from the ashes and were reborn through our combined effort. The collaborative action of combining our feathers parallels America’s unity after the tragic events, and the beauty of our Phoenix signifies the thousands of beautiful lives of those we lost on that day
