Houston Baptist University (HBU) will host the Ground Zero 360 Remembrance Exhibition to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and help generations born after 2001 never forget what happened that fateful day.
“It is hard to believe it has been 21 years since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. We have a responsibility to those who died and their surviving families to keep their memory alive and never forget their sacrifice. We are honored to do this through Ground Zero 360,” said Paul McCormack, Retired NYPD Deputy Inspector & Co-Founder of Ground Zero 360.
The collaborative exhibit of global artists from 12 countries will open to the general public from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, in the Contemporary Gallery of the University Academic Center on the HBU campus, 7502 Fondren Road, Houston, Texas 77074. The exhibit will run from Sept. 12, 2022 – Jan. 31, 2023, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Mondays – Thursdays.
HBU President Robert Sloan will offer words of comfort at a 9/11 Worship Service at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, in Belin Chapel in the Morris Cultural Arts Center. During the worship service, a moment of silence will be held in recognition of the collapse of the Twin Towers. A 9/11 Memorial Ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. outside of the Morris Family Center for Law and Liberty led by Master of Ceremonies Len Cannon of KHOU-11. Family members of victims will dedicate a tree on the HBU campus in commemoration of all 9/11 victims. The Ground Zero 360 Remembrance Exhibition will open for viewing at 11 a.m. after the ceremony.
“It is an honor for HBU to host this significant event. By remembering the events of that catastrophic day and honoring all those whose lives were taken, including brave first responders, we offer comfort to their survivors and also recommit ourselves to the work of ensuring that such acts of terror never happen again,” said Dr. Sloan.
The one-of-a-kind traveling exhibition, created by Ground Zero 360 co-founder and Dublin photojournalist, Nicola McClean, pays tribute to the lives lost in the 9/11 terror attacks through stunning images captured in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The exhibit also features artwork from 72 world-renowned artists, painters and sculptors, including 33 American artists (19 of whom hail from Texas) and 39 international artists who share their feelings and emotions on the destruction and devastation of that infamous day. Eight of the pieces included in the exhibit were created by faculty and alumni from HBU’s College of Arts and Humanities and will remain a permanent part of the national exhibition.
Visitors will view harrowing visuals, heartbreaking “missing person posters” and a panoramic installation that gives insight into what eight million New Yorkers felt in the days following the 9/11 attacks. Visitors also will hear emergency radio calls from that morning and get a close-up view of a fragment of twisted steel and broken granite from the World Trade Center.
The curated art and history exhibition will also display crosses and a menorah cut from steel from the World Trade Center by ironworkers, a flag that flew over Ground Zero, a “Survivor Tree” cast in bronze with steel from the World Trade Center along with personal artifacts lent by families of police officers and firefighters who lost their lives in the attacks.
Michele Mason, Director of U.S. Operations for Ground Zero 360, describes the outpouring of support from Texans for the Ground Zero 360 exhibition as “nothing short of remarkable.” “HBU with its beautiful campus and powerful, nurturing studio visual arts program and exhibition spaces is a perfect location for the historical exhibition,” said Mason.
For more information on the Ground Zero 360 Remembrance Exhibition, visit groundzero360.org. Click to view a Ground Zero 360 catalog of photos and images.