On September 11, 2021, Marks Left Behind: NYAA Recollections, Connections and Impact of 9/11, curated by Sharon Thomas and Dana Lee will go live. The exhibition is a ‘living document’ which invites many forms of responses that may hopefully lead to a physical show and publication in 2022.
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As part of this exhibition, we will be hosting a Zoom panel symposium on Saturday, September 11th at 1pm EST hosted by AANYAA Vice President Carlos Bautista and chaired by Sharon Thomas and Dana Lee.
The conversation will be composed of a faculty member and three alumni as they delve into their experiences, and share the personal and artistic impact that day had upon them.
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What we are looking for:
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To get started, begin thinking and researching artifacts that you made or created on both 9/11, and in response to the days following. These could include documentary photographs, artwork, personal writings, or other evidence of connections made with places and people and the NYAA community at the time.
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Video and audio are also welcome, so please consider allowing us to interview you about the events of that day. (Alternatively, we can assist you to provide audio formatting of your experiences/recollections.)
The project is an organic work in progress where items will first be gathered and shared, to be responded to privately. You may submit a single contribution or more, and the data that you submit is confidential.
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The final works submitted by contributing alumni will be curated within the format of an exhibition page hosted on the AANYAA's website presenting multimedia presentation of artwork, interviews, and links.
Below you will find catalyst questions which will prompt ideas about work that you think you would like to contribute to the show. Do not feel pressured to directly answer these questions. Your responses can be artwork that you made around the period 2001- 2004, or possibly recollections in the form of writing, photographs and personal ephemera which for you provides an insight to others your experiences of that time at NYAA. Contributions can be sober, contemplative, funny or celebratory. This is an open forum.​​
​Events of that day:
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What did you talk about and with whom that day/period?
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Did you meet new friends at this time?
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Did you talk to strangers that day?
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How did you travel during that day?
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Have you any film footage of that day, or around the period of your MFA that shares the environment of NYC/NYAA at that time?
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Tell your own story of what you saw that day of and months around 9/11
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Aftermath, Friends, and Support:
- When did you return downtown for the first time in the aftermath 9/11- was it a first day back at class for example?
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What are your thoughts about the reality of working downtown over the 2 years at NYAA?
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What friends did you spend time with or felt closer to?
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Which friends and/or family were you in contact with at the time that were supportive?
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Did you feel a desire to leave/stay in NYC at that time? Why?
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Have you heard stories from close contacts of what they witnessed during that period which is poignant to you that you want to share?
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Have you talked about your experienced of 9/11 or operating downtown during this period to anyone?
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What are your feelings looking back 20 years ago?
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An Artist’s Perspective, Meaning and Reflection:​
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Was there work that you made later that was influenced by that day/period?
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Were there art works or artists that inspired you at the time? Or was there a writer, poet, movie, etc. that you became attached to? Have you pondered about what drew you attention to those things?