Aggie Kenny Remembers-
After the attacks on 9/11, I was compelled to visit the site with my sketchbook. Sketching the scenes of the aftermath was my attempt to comprehend the incomprehensible. One clear theme evolved as I drew, that of the focused energy of the responders. This took shape in the relentless toiling of those in the pit, the compassionate outreach of the volunteers, the supportive camaraderie among those on breaks and the palpable exhaustion of the sleeping responders. I am honored to have been given this opportunity to witness such heroism.
To mark the nine-year anniversary of September 11th, the New York City Police Museum is honoring those that are vital to New York City’s rebuilding process. Aggie Kenny’s watercolors and sketches are a rare, inside view of workers at the World Trade Center Recovery Operation, capturing everything from the mundane to the heroic. The exhibition includes 25 sketches and watercolors. This will be the first time these views have been displayed in public. Kenny brought her sketchbook and years of acclaimed talent as a courtroom artist to the site in the spring of 2002. She used no photographic reference; her scenes are seized from life, and from her own unique first-person perspective. Her work captures both the intense focused energy and the “absolute unutterable exhaustion” of the responders.
