David Rockefeller, Visionary Behind Original World Trade Center, to Serve as Honorary Jury Member
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation today announced the selection of a distinguished panel of jury members to evaluate and review entries in the international World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. The jury will be comprised of thirteen individuals representing various points of view-- including world renowned artists and architects, a family member, a Lower Manhattan resident and business owner, representatives of the Governor and Mayor, and other prominent arts and cultural professionals. In addition, David Rockefeller, prominent philanthropist, distinguished statesman, long-time leader in the downtown business community, and visionary behind the World Trade Center, will serve as an honorary member of the jury. During the first stage of the two-stage competition, members of the jury will review anonymous submissions and select finalists. During the second stage, the finalists will further develop their design proposals, which the LMDC will reveal to the public while the jury continues to deliberate. The jury will select a winning design in fall 2003.
Registration for the competition will begin on April 28, 2003 with the release of the competition guidelines, at which time the LMDC will launch a new website and a global outreach campaign. The competition will be open to adults 18 years of age or older, without regard to nationality or professional accreditation. The LMDC will bear the costs of administering the competition, and competitors will be required to submit a registration fee of $25, which will be used toward the creation of the memorial. All competitors must register before the deadline of May 29, 2003.
LMDC Chairman John C. Whitehead said, “These outstanding professionals from a broad range of backgrounds and diverse points of view are all deeply committed to the creation of a beautiful and fitting memorial. Their expertise and experience will prove invaluable in searching out the very best ideas and designs which we expect to receive from around the world. We are proud to have them guide this most important international competition. Additionally, I would like to thank everyone who brought this process to fruition; the members of the memorial mission and program committees, and Lewis Eisenberg, Tom Johnson and Deborah Wright for all of their work with the Families Advisory Council.”
LMDC Interim President Kevin M. Rampe said, “This distinguished jury has been entrusted with selecting a design for the World Trade Center site that appropriately expresses the principles outlined in the competition guidelines. Their decision will be informed by public opinion as well as the extensive work already carried out by our Families Advisory Council. I thank them for offering their experience and talent to our process and am confident that they will successfully accomplish this difficult and sensitive task.”
Jurors will be instructed to evaluate the designs based on how they express the mission statement and program, as set forth in the competition guidelines. The mission statement describes the purpose of the memorial, while the program describes the principles that the memorial must embody and the elements it must feature to be considered in the competition.
The mission statement and program were released for public comment from January 8, 2003 through February 2, 2003, and revised based on more than 2,000 comments received during that period. The drafts were developed by two separate committees, convened by the LMDC and comprised of family members, residents, survivors, first responders, arts and architecture professionals and community leaders. The committees premised their work on an initial memorial mission statement and program developed by the LMDC Families Advisory Council last spring.
The jury will take part in a series of forums in which the public can express opinions on how elements in the mission and program should be incorporated into the winning design. The forums, to be held this summer, will ensure that the jury is informed of the public’s aspirations with regard to the memorial, while entrusting jury members with the ultimate responsibility of selecting a final design.
The following thirteen individuals were selected to sit on the jury for the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition:
Paula Grant Berry
Paula Grant Berry serves on the LMDC Families Advisory Council and was a Memorial Program Drafting Committee member. Her husband, David Berry, was killed in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Ms. Grant Berry graduated from Harvard University in 1979 and received her MBA from the Columbia University Business School in 1988. She has held several executive positions in publishing and marketing including Doubleday, the Economist, Newsweek, Gruner & Jahr and Scholastic. Ms. Grant Berry is a resident of Brooklyn where she lives with her three children.
Paula Grant Berry said, “I consider it a great privilege and responsibility to represent the families of both the September 11 and the 1993 victims on the memorial jury. Nothing we do, of course, will ever replace what we lost that tragic day. But by choosing a fitting memorial, we can honor the lives, spirits and the courage of our loved ones. I will work my hardest to ensure that the memorial helps us all find the peace and meaning we are seeking.”
Susan Freedman
Susan Freedman is the President of the Public Art Fund. She currently serves as a representative on the Board of the Museum of Modern Art, as well as on the Boards of the Municipal Art Society, the Eldridge Street Project, WNYC Radio, and as Secretary of the Board for the City Parks Foundation. Ms. Freedman is the recipient of the 1999 Associates of the Art Commission Annual Award, and was selected as one of four finalists for the North American MontBlanc de la Culture Award in 1994. Prior to her current position, Ms. Freedman served as the Assistant to Mayor Edward I. Koch and Director of Special Projects and Events for the Arts Commission of the City of New York.
Susan Freedman said, “This is an endeavor of national, international and historic significance. We should work to create a public space of which we are proud and one that speaks to future generations. I am honored to serve on the jury and humbled by the enormity of the challenge.”
Vartan Gregorian, Ph.D.
Dr. Vartan Gregorian is the President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Prior to his current position, he served for nine years as the sixteenth president of Brown University. Dr. Gregorian is the founding dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania (1974-1978), and served as the twenty-third provost of the University until 1981. For eight years (1981-1989), he served as the President of the New York Public Library. Mr. Gregorian is the author of Emergence of Modern Afghanistan, 1880-1946. His awards include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the American Academy of the Institute of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Service to the Arts and the National Humanities Medal awarded by President William Jefferson Clinton.
Vartan Gregorian said, “The tragedy that befell New York is unique in the annals of American history and how we commemorate those who died is an historic moment when we are called upon to do justice to their memory. I’m certain architects, designers and artists throughout the United States and the world will be inspired to respond to the challenge of this memorial and the historic obligation it demands. I’m very proud to be asked to be a member of this jury and take my responsibility to history seriously. New York is full of memorials to democracy, but this will be something much more powerful because it will commemorate the victims and celebrates the resiliency and will of all New Yorkers.”
Patricia Harris
Patricia Harris is the Deputy Mayor for Administration for the City of New York. Prior to her appointment, Harris managed Bloomberg LP's Corporate Communications Department, overseeing its Philanthropy, Public Relations, and Governmental Affairs divisions. Prior to her employment at Bloomberg, she was Vice President for Public Relations at Serino Coyne Advertising. She served for 12 years in the administration of Mayor Edward I. Koch as Executive Director of the Art Commission -- the agency that reviews all public art, architecture and landscape architecture on city property-- and before that, as Assistant to the Mayor for Federal Affairs.
Patricia Harris said, “The attack on the World Trade Center has left us struggling for words to describe the myriad of emotions it evokes. Even more challenging a task is to create an everlasting memorial on this hallowed ground. This panel has many different voices which will help us ensure that the memorial speaks to generations to come.”
Maya Lin
Maya Lin is known for her site specific art and architectural projects. For over fifteen years, Ms. Lin has run her own studio in New York City, creating installations and buildings throughout the country. Current architectural projects include an 8,000 square foot chapel for the Children’s Defense Fund in Clinton, TN, and a 20,000 square foot bakery for the Greyston Foundation in Yonkers, NY. She is working on art installations for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial in Washington State and the Fine Arts Plaza at the University of California at Irvine. Ms. Lin gained international recognition for creating the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington, D.C.and the Civil Rights memorial in Montgomery, AL. She is a board member of the Yale Corporation and the National Resource Defense Council. She is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York City.
Maya Lin said, “I am honored to serve on the jury to select a memorial for the World Trade Center site. I hope that my experience with memorials can help in the process to find a powerful and moving Memorial and can truly help people come to terms with such a painful and traumatic time in our lives.”
Michael McKeon
Michael McKeon is a Managing Director of Mercury Public Affairs. Prior to joining Mercury, Mr. McKeon served as Governor Pataki's Director of Communications, and as the Governor’s chief spokesman. He was responsible for overseeing the State's crisis communications, during and after the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. As the Governor's chief liaison on September 11th issues to City Hall and family groups, McKeon worked closely with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his staff, along with White House senior staff, on the development and production of the ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Prior to joining the Pataki administration in May 1995, McKeon worked for more than 10 years as a reporter for three New York newspapers, winning several awards for local and political reporting.
Michael McKeon said, “From the first hours after September 11th I saw first hand the strength and courage of so many family members who lost loved ones, both in and out of uniform, on that horrible day. They lifted New Yorkers through the crisis, and continue to provide the strength we need to overcome the many challenges we still face today. I look forward to helping ensure that this memorial honors all those who died on September 11, and reflects the strength, courage and compassion that so many New Yorkers, but especially the family members, have demonstrated since that terrible day.”
Julie Menin
Julie Menin is the President and Founder of Wall Street Rising, a not-for-profit organization founded in October 2001. The organization’s mission is to help restore vibrancy and vitality in Lower Manhattan as a 24/7 mixed-use community and destination. Ms. Menin was formerly the Senior Regulatory Attorney at Colgate-Palmolive. Ms. Menin is a resident of Lower Manhattan and owns Vine Restaurant, located in the Financial District. Some of Wall Street Rising’s programs and services have included Art Downtown, Do It Downtown! Discount Card Program, a Resident and Retail Attraction Program and a Downtown Information Center.
Julie Menin said, “I am deeply honored to have been asked to serve as a member of this panel. I look forward to working with so distinguished a group on this collaborative process. This historic opportunity is daunting, yet singularly compelling. Whatever form the memorial ultimately takes, it must honor those who died on September 11th, it must be spiritually uplifting and architecturally memorable. It must serve as an instrument of healing for the families, the city and our nation. There is no greater challenge before us.”
Enrique Norten
Enrique Norten founded Taller de Enrique Norten Arquictectos S.C. (TEN Arquitectos) in 1985 with partner Bernardo Gomez-Pimienta. He is the recipient of many architectural awards, including the Honorary Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects, and the first “Mies van der Rohe” Award for Latin America. He has taught at, among other institutions, the Pratt Institute, Rice University, Columbia and Harvard. In July, 2002 he received a commission, his first in the United States, from the Brooklyn Public Library, to design its Visual and Performing Arts Library. Mr. Norten was founding member of the editorial board of the magazine Arquitectura. He teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds the Miller Chair of Architecture. Mr. Norten has extensive jury experience.
Enrique Norten said, “I am honored to have been selected as a member of the jury for the international World Trade Center site memorial competition. All of us are living in a unique historical moment, and are at a turning point in the history of western civilization. This Memorial is about both pain and loss, but also, about optimism and hope for the future. It is a great privilege to participate in the process of selecting the winning proposal for this most important memorial.”
Martin Puryear
Martin Puryear is a world renowned artist who studied painting at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and then served as a Peace Corps teacher in Sierra Leone from 1964 to 1966. He went on to study at the Swedish Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm and later received his Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University. In 1989 Mr. Puryear received the MacArthur Foundation Grant and was awarded the Grand Prize at the Sao Paolo Biennale, where he represented the United States. At the invitation of the French Ministry of Culture, he then worked at the Calder Atelier in Sache, France in 1992. Mr. Puryear recently completed several large scale projects including a stainless steel sculpture for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and a commissioned installation for the Festival d’Automne in Paris. His work is represented in private collections in the United States, Europe and Japan.
Martin Puryear said, “I consider it a privilege to serve on the panel entrusted to select a design for a memorial to the victims of the attack on September 11, 2001. The panel will have the great responsibility of choosing a design which honors their memory with dignity, spirit, and beauty.”
Nancy Rosen
Nancy Rosen has been working in the field of public art for the past three decades, organizing temporary exhibitions of outdoor sculpture and, in 1980, establishing her office, Nancy Rosen Incorporated, to assist public agencies, not-for-profit institutions and other clients to plan and implement public art programs and fine art collections. Her assignments have included organizing the Art-for-Public-Spaces program for the U.S .Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the first phase of the public art program for Battery Park City. She has advised the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and serves as the advisor to the Committee for Art in Public Places at Middlebury College. She has been a consultant and panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts and the City of New York, and has chaired the Art in Public Places grants panel for the National Endowment for the Arts. At the invitation of the U.S. General Services Adminstration, Ms. Rosen participated in that agency’s Art-in-Architecture Workshop. She has been serving on the Art Commission of the City of New York since 2002.
Nancy Rosen said, “It is an honor to join my distinguished colleagues in this most human of endeavors – an effort to find a compelling expression to memorialize this cataclysmic event. I am full of hope that this process, and its ultimate outcome, will fittingly address the tragic circumstances and sobering reality that have brought us all to this point.”
Lowery Stokes Sims, Ph.D.
Lowery Stokes Sims is the Executive Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem. As Director of the museum, she has overseen major expansion and renovation projects of their facility and collection. Prior to her appointment in January 2000, she was Curator of Modern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on staff since 1972. Dr. Sims received her B.A. in art history from Queens College of the City University of New York, her M.A. in art history from John Hopkins University and her M. Phil. and Ph.D in art history from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. Dr. Sims has served nationally as a juror and guest curator at institutions including the Queens Museum, the Pratt Institute, the Carribean Cultural Center (New York), Cooper Union, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and the California Museum of Afro-American History and Culture.
Lowery Stokes Sims said, “I am honored to have been asked to serve in the selection process for the memorial at the World Trade Center. My late father John J. Sims, Sr. worked for the Port Authority and I have fond memories of my first visit to the two towers as their construction was being completed. I know that we will find the right project that will serve as a fitting memorial to the brave individuals who died in the line of duty as public servants, employees, co-workers, parents, children, siblings, friends and neighbors.”
Michael Van Valkenburgh
Michael Van Valkenburgh is the founder and principal of Michael Van Valkenburgh Architects in Manhattan and Cambridge and he currently resides in New York City’s West Village. The work of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates has won numerous national design awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects and a Progressive Architecture Award in 1997 for Allegheny Riverfront Park. Michael was named the Charles Eliot Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he teaches a design studio once a year. He also served as chairman of the department between 1991 and 1996. Mr. Van Valkenburgh has extensive jury experience.
Michael Van Valkenburgh said, “Living in New York after the September 11 attack gave me a renewed faith in people and the power of their spirit and will to live. For me, the memorial is a gift to the future—for us and something for the next generations of New Yorkers. The memorial will afford us an opportunity to remember the World Trade Center attack and to honor those who lost their lives. I am honored to be part of a team that will decide how to mark this moment in our history.”
James Young, Ph.D.
James Young is the Professor & Chair of the Department of Judaic & Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is also the author of At Memory's Edge: After-images of the Holocaust in Contemporary Art and Architecture; The Texture of Memory, which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1994; and Writing and Rewriting the Holocaust, which won a Choice Outstanding Book Award for 1988. Professor Young was also guest curator of an exhibition at the Jewish Museum, The Art of Memory: Holocaust Memorials in History. Professor Young was appointed by the Berlin Senate to the five-member commission for Germany's national "Memorial to Europe's Murdered Jews," now under construction in Berlin. Mr. Young is a resident of Massachusetts and has extensive jury experience.
James Young said, “It's a great, if daunting honor, to be asked to help choose how our city and nation will memorialize the destruction of the World Trade Center towers and the unbearable loss of life there. But if we see memory itself as a living, life-affirming process that unfolds over time, then we might come to regard this memorial as a stage in the process, not its last word. I begin only with questions and look forward to seeing how our greatest artists and architects might respond to them: How to remember and toward what end? How will this memorial shape our understanding of these terrible past events even as it invigorates future life in this city?”
In recognition of his accomplishments and devotion to New York City, David Rockefeller will serve as an honorary member on the jury. As honorary member, Mr. Rockefeller will be available for consultation on the guiding vision for the World Trade Center and to provide historical perspective to the evolution of downtown Manhattan.
David Rockefeller
Mr. Rockefeller is a distinguished philanthropist, business leader and patron of the arts. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Mr. Rockefeller served as an officer of the Chase Manhattan Bank from 1946 to 1981 and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1969 until 1981. He led Chase Manhattan Bank in building Chase Plaza and becoming a principal anchor downtown during the fiscal crisis in the 1970s. Since then, he has served as Chairman of the bank’s International Advisory Committee. Mr. Rockefeller has a long history of vigorous and successful advocacy on behalf of Lower Manhattan, including the chairmanship of the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association. Mr. Rockefeller was the visionary and leading force behind the development of the original World Trade Center site. He was the founder of the NYC Partnership, now the Partnership for NYC, which continues to serve as the premier voice for business in New York. Mr. Rockefeller is also involved in numerous other business, cultural and educational organizations as well as foundation boards and charitable activities.
