5 Paintings in the Making

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Dawn Siebel

In 2010 I photographed five of the firefighter paintings as painted them, using a very low-tech system where every so often I placed the block of wood on a stand, then clicked a picture on my tripod-held camera. It has taken me several years (and the help of my web designer Cody Schatzle) to link all these pictures together into what I had planned from the beginning. But here, in a 2-minute slide show, are five paintings from beginning to finished.
[media url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMbtsfLHkkA]

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Giving Thanks

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

Better Angels has been in its crates since we left Clearwater Florida 4 weeks ago. One of these days I must take better pictures of the whole unloading, unpacking, assembling process but for now I only have these 2 not-so-good shots of the exhibit coming out of its trailer in Cincinnati. The paintings are in the big wooden crate.

Now, as the holidays approach, it is time to count our blessings and look ahead. Thank you to everyone who has supported this project. Thank you to everyone who has come to share these paintings and who has helped us share them with others. Earlier this week the Better Angels Facebook page passed 300 friends, building a community. Thank you to those who help to spread the word.
Our next scheduled stop for Better Angels is Firehouse World in San Diego in February.

Our wish list also includes DENVER, CHICAGO and perhaps PHOENIX on our way to Indianapolis in late April. We are looking for secure public spaces where there would be no admission charge for visitors. I am particularly interested in bringing the paintings to Denver because Colorado is where I lived on 9/11 and where Better Angels began. Without early support from Boulder friends, the paintings might never have been. Of course, our wish list also includes NEW YORK CITY. Believe me, we are working on that.
Best wishes to all for a warm family- and friend-filled holiday season. Thank you

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Survivor Testimony

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

A lot of “civilians” have been able to come see the exhibit here in Clearwater. I want to share one story I heard today.
She worked on the 81st floor of the North Tower. It took her 1 hour and 20 minutes to walk down to safety. On the 44th floor, she and her friend who was walking down with her ran out of energy. Her friend suggested they stop to rest. One of the firefighters going up the stairs they were coming down stopped for a couple minutes to offer her a few deep hits of oxygen from his mask. She was energized enough by that to continue her journey. Her friend who chose to rest a while longer never made it out of the building.
This woman looked at the Better Angels wall of firefighters and said aloud, “I wish I knew which one he was.”

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Clearwater Pictures

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

Thanks to Dave Bretz for these artful pictures of the exhibit @ VCOS in Clearwater, FL.


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Clearwater FL Public Exhibit

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

We’ll be heading to Florida early Wednesday to set up Better Angels at the VCOS convention in Clearwater, Florida. The Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the Int’l Assn of Fire Chiefs will be hosting Better Angels FREE to the public in the Island Room of the Sheraton Sands Key Hotel from 7:30 AM this Thursday 11/10 through 11:30 AM Sunday 11/13.
www.vcos.org
Please help spread the word if you know anyone in the Clearwater/Tampa/St. Petersburg area of Florida. And many thanks to VCOS for hosting this presentation.

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NFFF Annual Memorial Weekend 2011

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

On October 15th and 16th, I was privileged to attend the annual Memorial Weekend at the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation’s national memorial in Emmitsburg MD. Please pardon my amateur camera work, but I wanted to share a couple videos and some images from Saturday evening’s candlelight service and Sunday’s National Memorial Service. This year honored 89 firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty: 72 from 2010 and 17 from previous years.

In workshops earlier in the weekend, families created luminaria for their lost firefighters. Some of these are captured in the following video.
[media url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQc0ctyFrhk] Sunday is the “Sea of Blue,” the honor guards who line all the sidewalks for the families who are escorted through their ranks on the arm of a firefighter to their seats for the memorial.
The Pipes & Drums, like the Honor Guard, are made up of fire service personnel from around the country. Bagpipes are almost synonymous with firefighters. Here they play as the folded flags that will be presented to the families are escorted through the crowd.
[media url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWWU0uITkKw] For me the two most moving aspects of the weekend were the children whose presence evoked the weight of loss, and the Sea of Blue whose presence conveyed the palpable support of this distinct community. The ceremonies ended with the release of white doves who circled the gathered crowd several times before disappearing behind the chapel.

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Video: Better Angels in the Capitol

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Dawn Siebel
[media url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J63fiE7Vfrk] Here’s a video from the NFFF of the Better Angels exhibit in the Rayburn. It begins with the press conference hosted by Bill Webb, head of the Congressional Fire Services Institute, and Vice Chair of the Board of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Thanks again to Dave Statter for putting this together.

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Capitol Exhibit

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Dawn Siebel


Although it cannot be seen in this picture, the dome of the U.S. Capitol is framed between the columns outside the windows of the Rayburn foyer where Better Angels is currently on exhibit.
I think I have failed until now to post pictures of the other side of the display wall where the Roll of Honor lists all the line-of-duty deaths nationwide since 1981, the year LODD deaths begin on the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Memorial Wall at the Foundation’s HQ & Memorial grounds in Emmitsburg, MD.
Rayburn 2 The Roll of Honor is flanked on its sides by one panel about the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation and their support programs, and the other side by a panel about the Department of Justice’s PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS BENEFITS program (PSOB) administered by the Bureau of Justice Affairs. For those outside the fire service, PSOBs are federal death and disability benefits provided to first responders (Police, Fire, FEMA…) who are killed or disabled in the line of duty.

Next weekend is the annual memorial service in Emmitsburg. I have heard so many wonderful things about how important and moving this is for the families of the fallen, that I will be attending myself for the first time.

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Rayburn Building Exhibit Update

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

It turns out that the Rayburn Building will be closed this Saturday, Sunday and Monday when we thought the Better Angels exhibit would be open to the public. No one seemed to remember the holiday in time to ask for RSVPs from people who wanted to come see the show. Those whose names we knew have been put onto the security list and will be able to enter the building through the security entrance in the Longworth House Office Building directly opposite the side entrance to the Rayburn. Apologies to anyone this might inconvenience.

The exhibit will still be open to the general public again on Tuesday 10/10 from 8am to 12:30pm. Then firefighters will again magically materialize to help us break it down and put the show back in its crates.

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Rayburn Congressional Office Building, DC

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Dawn Siebel

Beginning this Thursday 10/11, Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11 will be on view in the lobby of the Rayburn Congressional Office Building in Washington DC for a couple days.

The exhibit will be open to the public on the following days:

Thursday 10/6 from 11am to 7pm
Friday 10/7 and Monday 10/10 from 8am to 11pm
Saturday 10/11 from 8am to 1pm

This public exhibit is being presented with the help of the Congressional Fire Services Institute and NY Rep. Peter King, Co-Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. If you are in the area or know someone who is, please help us spread the word. If you are a Facebook friend, please consider ReSharing this post.

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