LOCKPORT — The 7-foot-tall twin towers stand just before the ground floor exit doors at the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero in New York City.
Created by Lockport artist and winery owner Richard “Sean” Manning, the installation is designed to serve as an “invitation for a quiet moment of reflection” for visitors who have just passed through what the artist describes as the “stressful experience” of visiting the World Trade Center memorial.
“It was just one of those things that was so tragic. I think people look at the Twin Towers as these absolutely mammoth steel buildings. I look at it just the opposite,” Manning said. “After leaving the primary exhibit, you see the towers as more than just steel and glass buildings. You realize it was a living community. It’s unity art.”
Manning, 64, and his wife Laura said they felt a connection to those who lost family and friends in the collapse of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
“We had friends who lost family,” Sean said. “It’s like we all know someone who lost someone special on 9/11. And it was a loss of innocence as well.”
Inspired, in 2014, Sean cast a pair of replica towers in ceramic and presented them to the museum curator. They quickly found a home.
“It was with just a hope that (the art) would somehow give (visitors) a sense of relief,” Manning said. “You realize they were more than buildings.”
Since the installation debuted, Manning, 64, and his wife Laura said they’ve become friends with family members of some of the 658 employees of Cantor Fitzgerald who died in the collapse of the North Tower. They said the families have thanked them for expressing their loss.
“The tower was completely about work, but during work you have work families,” Manning said. “You spend time celebrating birthdays and family losses.”
Manning said that creating the twin towers for the museum has refocused his art.
“Let’s just be nice to one another,” he said. “Let’s be kind. It has changed me from something ordinary to colorful and happy now. It’s all about peace, love and kindness. We’re all human beings and there’s nobody better than anyone else. Everybody has a story. I don’t care if that person is sleeping under a tent under a byway. We all need to take care of one another.”
For the month of September, a replica pair of 9/11 ‘Memorial Towers on Steel’ from Manning’s private art collection will be displayed at his Freedom Run Winery in Lockport. The winery is located at 5138 Lower Mountain Road.
There will also be a curated display of Sean’s original paintings from his ‘American Flag’ and ‘Unity’ series at the winery.
The public is invited to visit Freedom Run Winery during the month of September for a quiet moment of reflection on unity, remembrance, and healing through art.