Art memorial exhibit inspired by 911 installed at Snow College gallery
By Robert Stevens
Managing editor
9-1-06
EPHRAIM—A new exhibit has gone up at the Snow College Art Gallery.
Artist Frank McEntire recently installed “Spontaneous Memorial,” a piece of artwork inspired by the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks of 15 years ago, at the gallery.
Exhibition dates are Aug. 22–Oct. 7. A gallery reception is being held on Friday, Sept. 9 from 6-8 p.m. A convocation lecture on the exhibit will be held on Thursday, Sept. 8 from 12:30-1:20 p.m.
The press release about the art installation claims that the project’s inception was motivated by the many spontaneous memorials McEntire and his wife, Marjorie, found throughout New York City just two months after the attack.
“Next to fire stations, buildings and fences, spontaneous altar-like memorials were everywhere,” McEntire recalled. “One by a fire station was covered in flowers, lit by candles, and highlighted with photographs of fallen first responders―more than half of that station’s crew died when the Twin Towers collapsed.”
McEntire says he wanted to retain a visual and emotional memory of those “street altars.”
“They motivated the beginning of Spontaneous Memorial in 2004,” he said, “and it has evolved into an ongoing installation exhibited almost every year since then.”
The exhibit at Snow College marks the 15th anniversary of the memorial.
“When I work in series” McEntire said, “I find as many variations on a single theme or use of a particular object as possible.”
According to the Snow College press release, Spontaneous Memorial gave McEntire the opportunity to work extensively on a single theme (memorial) over an extended period of time (now fifteen years).
“My interest,” McEntire continued, “has been to explore ‘memorial’ not only as a way to remember an event, but also as a form or artistic expression in itself.”
