Metro Pulse/Artbeat/Sept. 11 Exhibits

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What:
Bearing Witness to History and America From the Heart: Quilters Remember September 11, 2001.

Where:
The East Tennessee History Center and Knoxville Museum of Art

When:
Through April 25 and April 18th, respectively.

New exhibits revisit the sorrows of September 11

by Heather Joyner

Oh, no, I say to myself as I head downtown to the East Tennessee History Center's new facilities fronting Gay Street. Not more stuff about September 11th...and in addition to the visiting Smithsonian exhibition, there's the KMA's upcoming quilt show. How much more of this tragedy can I handle? Ongoing political milking of a national tragedy aside, we apparently still need to grieve—or at least honor— our losses of almost two-and-a-half years ago. And although the dead from three separate places that autumn morning number less than one-tenth of the total estimated murdered at Dachau prison camp alone, for instance, it was nevertheless a horrible day in our country's history.

Before the official opening of the commemorative exhibition, despite continuing construction and a labyrinthine approach to the history center's new lobby, numerous people are previewing "September 11: Bearing Witness to History." At the traveling show's only Southeast destination, a variety of artifacts and other items are presented in lighting set low for both preservation and to establish a mood, and men and women move throughout three separate areas speaking in hushed voices.

Knoxville is also the only location outside of Washington, DC (where "Bearing Witness" attracted more than one million visitors during its 10-month stint at the National Museum of American History) to display a 5,500-pound tangle of steel from the 70th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower. Alongside that shocking leviathan of remembrance are photographs, stills and videos addressing many aspects of the attacks and their aftermath, and there are items from the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania crash site as well as from the trade center. Interactive kiosks with headphones allow visitors to listen to commentary from survivors and others, and notecards are provided for written responses.

According to the history center's project coordinator Phil Hyatt, the Smithsonian show's appearance here—and that of the massive beam in particular—would not have been possible without the influence of Knoxvillian Pete Claussen. Upon learning that the show was slated to go on tour through 2005, Claussen, a board member of the National Museum of American History and President of Gulf and Ohio Railways, became determined to bring the exhibition to Knoxville. "When [Claussen] first brought it up with the Smithsonian leadership, he was met with considerable skepticism," says Hiatt. "Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Pittsburgh, yes—but Knoxville, Tennessee? Why Knoxville? He knew that he had to build a solid case for East Tennessee." The East Tennessee Historical Society board and staff also embraced the project and dedicated themselves to seeing that the new facility would be ready on time.

Ironically, the groundbreaking ceremony marking the $15 million East Tennessee History Center expansion took place the day before the terrorist attacks, and it is to Sept. 11, 2001 that the center returns with its first major event. A companion show to "Bearing Witness," titled "The Volunteer Spirit: East Tennesseans Respond," is also on view at the ETHC until late April, and it features post-Sept. 11 contributions made by this region, such as our gift of the Freedom (Fire) Engine to Ladder Company 14 in East Harlem.

ETHC curator Michele MacDonald has coordinated documentation of local efforts to help, including those of Max and Chase, two Knox County K-9 Department dogs who joined hundreds of other animals used to search for survivors in the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers. Drawings made by Sequoyah Elementary School students and other children are also presented.

As if the above is not enough commemoration, the Knoxville Museum of Art unveils "America From the Heart: Quilters Remember Sept. 11, 2001" on Feb. 6. Following the attacks, Karey Bresenhan, director of Houston's International Quilt Festival, announced an exhibition of quilts related to the events, and six weeks later, almost 300 quilts from far and wide were displayed in Texas. Now, 48 of those quilts can be seen here. Crafted by amateur and experienced quilters alike, they employ all sorts of materials and range in size from 14 inches to more traditional dimensions.

"Art has often been used as a way to heal wounds, and Americans time and again gravitate to quilting as a means to express sentiment," says KMA Executive Director Todd Smith. Although the ETHC exhibits do not present art like the quilts (excepting one piece of fabric art by Joan McGinnis), there's certainly an art to compelling exhibition design.

As for "Bearing Witness," one look at an image of a wall at Manhattan's Armory Building, crowded with detailed fliers for the missing, or at the damaged equipment, press pass, and final photographs belonging to trade center victim Bill Biggart, is enough to bring tears. Lesser items like the telephone via which Ted Olsen last spoke with his wife Barbara (a passenger on American Airlines flight 77 out of Dulles), or the bullhorn used by President Bush at Ground Zero seem maudlin in comparison. But they are exceptions. The smaller of two displayed chunks of mangled steel that once supported the twin towers is perhaps the most moving artifact of all, as touching is permitted. No matter how warm the presentation space, it is impossibly cold beneath one's fingers.