Blog | Better Angels

Commissioner Cassano Visits Better Angels

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

On Tuesday evening, New York City’s Fire Commissioner, Sal Cassano visited BETTER ANGELS. Here Ron Siarnicki and I join him for the cameras.

Cassano with two of our Tuesday volunteers, Tom Neary and Al Cerro, who both drove from Delaware to help with Better Angels.

Thank you to Joe Minogue on the left, and Russell Touhey on the right for ALL their help. In the background are glimpses of an 80-inch-long print of the paintings which the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and I gave to the FDNY.

ONE MORE DAY: 8AM-8PM

The tallest building and not yet finished, seen from the train passing through Jersey.

Posted in NEW YORK CITY | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, arts/Brookfield, better angels, Brookfield Properties, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

9/11 Memorial out my Window

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

I was looking out my window for quite a while before I realized I also had a view of the 9/11 Memorial Pool. This one in the footprint of the South Tower.

Posted in NEW YORK CITY, Uncategorized | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, better angels, Brookfield Properties, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Manhattan, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | 52 Comments

New York Day Two

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

I am so honored. Here I stand with New York City’s Fire Commissioner, Sal Cassano, and Ron Siarnicki, Executive Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation at the BETTER ANGELS exhibit in New York. Thank you to the entire fire community.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, arts/Brookfield, better angels, Brookfield Properties, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | 52 Comments

HERE WE GO

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

Monday Morning 8AM….

Posted in Uncategorized | 58 Comments

INSTALLED IN NEW YORK – READY FOR MONDAY

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

With many thanks to Brookfield Properties for providing this spectacular space.

Through those windows I myself have looked down over “the site” for many years now when I have visited NY. The audio self-tour I took with the Tribute Center several years ago ended at the view from the Winter Garden Mezzanine.

Thanks also to all the helping hands of the day! Monday. Spread the word.

Posted in NEW YORK CITY | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, better angels, Brookfield Properties, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | 52 Comments

BETTER ANGELS IN NEW YORK

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

The view is from the 20th floor just south of the WTC site. The Memorial Pools amid the green mark the footprints of the towers. Tomorrow morning we will be setting up BETTER ANGELS on the ground floor of the turquoise-roofed building on the left.

I have known the paintings were going to be there for some time, but I must confess I am understanding it differently today. This is profound. This is where the 343 became the 343.

As you can see, it’s a construction site. The cement trucks were still coming in until 8pm. A sea of glass arises on all sides, visually melting the buildings into the sky.

At night, it’s a sea of lights.

more tomorrow.

Posted in NEW YORK CITY, Uncategorized | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

FIVE DAYS TO NEW YORK CITY

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

Posted in NEW YORK CITY | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

I don’t have a lot of pictures left that haven’t already been posted.

Here’s my work table in Bearsville. The colors on the palette are black, white and raw umber – the only colors used in the paintings. The brush is a 00. I went through more than 30 in the course of painting these paintings. The book with the pictures is the FDNY’s 2012 memorial book which provided improved reference photos. On the work top are three paintings I brought back from our first exhibit in Ocean City in order to do a little touch-up on them before the 2nd viewing in Baltimore.

Those of you who take pictures at the exhibit in NY, please consider sending me a jpg to post on the website. Or share your own on the BetterAngels911 facebook page. Thank you!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Memorial Day

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

A few weeks ago in Texas, a woman told me a survivor story similar to the one I had heard (and blogged about) in Florida last November. Her father-in-law worked on the 70-something floor of the North Tower and started walking down. Somewhere around the 40^th floor he ran out of steam and stopped to sit and rest for a while. A firefighter walking up grabbed him by his shoulders and told him quite forcefully to “GET UP, KEEP WALKING DOWN, AND DO NOT STOP UNTIL YOU ARE OUT OF THE BUILDING!!!” Which he did. Such a small thing, but it saved his life. Like the woman in Florida, this man also would not know which of these 343 BETTER ANGELS saved his life.

These are some of the stories I wait to hear in New York. Six days from now…

Adding Names

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

For the last week the NFFF and I have been working to update the wall for New York.

The non-painting side of the exhibit wall is filled almost end to end with the names of all the firefighters on the NFFF’s National Firefighter Memorial in Emmitsburg, MD.

Before the second time Better Angels was displayed, we had added a side panel with the names of five other non-FDNY firefighters who died at the WTC.

For New York it has always been important to recognize ALL the first responders who died that day.

So we are changing out a panel to include the names of the 37 Port Authority and 23 New York City police officers, and eleven State and Federal employees.

Then Joe sent me the authorized list with the names of 55 FDNY personnel whose deaths have officially been attributed to Ground Zero. And we found the official list naming the 51 NYPD personnel to date. And one more police officer from Port Authority.

This is the list that is still growing longer. And this list only represents those whose illnesses and deaths are officially attributable.

Posted in NEW YORK CITY | Tagged 2 World Financial Center, 343, 9/11, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, memorial, NFFF, World Trade Center, WTC | 54 Comments