9/11 sketchbook drawing
2001
Graphite
5.5" X 7.5"

This was the beginning of my artistic expression of my 9/11 experience, although I didn't know it at the time. I drew this 'from life', at about 3 PM while I sat with my children and other Hoboken residents in Sinatra Park. It was my way of processing the enormous impact it was having on me. I decided to keep a written diary of the next week in the same sketchbook, no matter how difficult. The diary resulted in my 'Comfort and Hope' project.
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Comfort and Hope
2006
Oil/Canvas
36" X 60"

This was what I saw in Hoboken, New Jersey on September 14, the Friday after the attack. There was a candlelight vigil on Pier A beginning at 6. As my family and I arrived, we saw hundreds of people assembled. I also saw the US navy hospital ship Comfort coming up the Hudson River. At the time it was supposed that there still might be survivors to rescue from the building collapse. It took me a long time to arrange this composition to balance the three elements of people, skyline and ship. Some of the people included weren't actually there that night, but I have included them because they were significant in various ways to the Hoboken 9/11 community. The main figure is Sandy Carey who was actually at the Armory that night, looking for news of her husband, Keith O'Connor. Her and her child are meant to contrast with the man and woman to her right as a way of showing that they are without a man. Sandy was a co-founder of the Hoboken 9/11 support group, and some of those people are also depicted here. The anonymous figures to the left represent some of the victims, and the figures to the right are more specific and represent the 'Hope' aspect of people united. Additional info at http://raymondsmithart.com/section/5054_Comfort_and_Hope.html
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The Hoboken Children's Memorial Flag
2002
Acrylic/Canvas

Created by Raymond Smith with students of Wallace School, Mile Square Day Care, and surviving children of the World Trade Center victims. On September 11, 2001, 47 men and women from Hoboken never returned from their day’s work. 46 lived here that day, and one of them was born here. This flag was created specifically in memory of them, and was the first public memorial dedicated to them. It was dedicated here on April 30, 2002. Eight of the children’s handprints in the canton represent the parent or guardian they lost. They ranged in age from infant to pre-teen, and most of them had their handprints taken at All-Saints Church. Their handprints correspond with the name of parent or guardian they lost, (excepting Micheal Costello, who is represented by one of Christopher Colasanti’s two children.) This flag is also about unity. The unity we all felt after the attack, and the unity of families despite tragedy. Two people represented here, Meredith Ewart and Peter Fiedelberg, were engaged to be married. They remained together on the list in alphabetical order, and I have kept them united by joining their hands. My son, daughter, and wife are the hands with a heart in their palm, because that’s where they hold my heart. I want this memorial to serve as a visual symbol of the experience we have all passed through, and as a silent reminder to those who serve the welfare of children. Names in BOLD type are represented by a surviving child-1. JOAO AGULAR 2. JEAN ANDRUCKI 3. PETER PAUL APOLLO 4. DONNA BERNAERTS-KEARNS 5. MARTIN BORYCZEWSKI 6. NICK BRADEMARTI 7. CHRISTOPHER COLASANTI 8. MICHEAL COSTELLO 9. CHRISTOPHER CRAMER 10. GAVIN CUSHNY 11. MICHEAL DeRIENZO 12. DOUGLAS DiSTEFANO 13. NEIL DOLLARD 14. MARGARET ECHTERMANN 15. MEREDITH EWART 16. PETER FEIDELBERG 17. JEFFERY GARDNER 18. MICHEAL GOULD 19.PEDRO (DAVID) GREHAN 20.SCOTT HAZELCORN 21. MATTHEW HORNING 22. JOESEPH IANELLI 23. THOMAS KNOX 24. GREGORY MALONE 25. KATIE McGARRY-NOACK 26.GEORGE McLAUGHLIN 27. MICHEAL MULLIN 28.JOHN MURRAY 29.MARTIN NIEDERER 30. BRIAN NOVOTNY 31. KEITH O’CONNOR 32. DOMINIQUE PANDOLFO 33. JOSEPH PICK 34. SCOTT ROHNER 35. JOSHUA ROSENBLUM 36. NICK ROWE 37. RONALD RUBEN 38. RICHARD SALINARDI 39. JAMES SAMUEL 40. JOHN SCHRODER 41. ALEXANDER STEINMAN 42. LESLEY THOMAS-O’KEEFE 43. MELLISA VINCENT 44. MEREDITH LYNN-WHALEN 45. JAMES WHITE 46. DEBORAH WILLIAMS 47. MICHEAL WITTENSTEIN
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Hoboken Children's Memorial Flag display
2002
Acrylic/Canvas

After 9/11, handprint flags became ubiquitous. They took various forms, but the intention was always a symbolic pledge of support. I was inspired by a flag that was sent here from Georgia as a gesture of support for our loss.That inspiration led me to create the first public Hoboken 9/11 memorial, dedicated on April 30, 2002. It can be seen at the Hoboken Board of Education, where it has pride of place on the wall behind the Board members during their meetings. The hands in the canton represent my count of 47 victims from Hoboken, and eight of the children’s handprints in the canton represent the parent or guardian they lost. It's not the sort of art that I usually make, but it's become one of the things I am most proud of.
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