The Heckscher Museum of Art creates memorial tribute to those lost in the world trade center tragedy.

We will always remember where we were at 9:45am on September 11, 2001 when two commercial jet airplanes flew into the World Trade Center in New York City. It was the day that made all Americans want to hold their families and loved ones a little closer and re-think their priorities. In an effort to reach out to the entire Long Island community, the Heckscher Museum of Art is inviting visitors to come together to create a meaningful tribute to those lost in the recent tragedy and thereby try to find solace in a creative act. Catherine A. Jansen, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, has said that the "Heckscher Museum will always be there as a place of beauty and serenity, open to all who need a moment of peace and comfort."

In 1920 American sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman carved the marble fountain in the lobby of the Heckscher Museum of Art. The young grandchildren of August Heckscher posed for the three small figures that serve as its focal point. An inscription around the rim reads, "Forever wilt thou love and they be fair." Margaret Kerr of East Hampton conceived of a moving tribute to commemorate those lost or missing in the recent terrorist attacks. At this profoundly tragic time of personal loss and desolation, visitors are invited to take a brick, write the name of a loved one, tie a ribbon around it and add it to the installation at the base of the fountain. Naming this project September 11: In Ashes, Ms. Kerr has chosen a ribbon the color of ashes, an allusion to the devastation and destruction of the World Trade Center. Her installation is intended to meld and interact with the tender sentiments conveyed in Longman's sculpture.

Margaret Kerr resides in the Springs with her husband, the painter Robert Richenburg. In 1986, she began exploring the artistic and sculptural potential of brick as an extension of the patterned pathways she created for her own garden. Although she has worked in various media throughout her artistic career, she truly found her métier in this unusual art form, intentionally working with alternately rough and smooth surfaces.

The Museum is deeply grateful to Margaret Kerr for this moving piece, installed in the Museum one week after the terrorist attacks. We wish to acknowledge her generosity, as well as that of Craig Hayes of C.S.C. Services, who so kindly transported the materials for this installation at no charge to the Heckscher Museum of Art.

For more information about the Heckscher Museum of Art go to http://www.heckscher.org.