In the dark days following the Sept. 11 attacks, a Yale alumnus helped the nation see a bit of light again.
Richard Nash Gould '68 '72 M. Arch. co-created "Tribute in Light," the now-iconic public art installation of two beams of light rising from lower Manhattan into the night sky. The light display - a cathartic, wordless expression of unity amid grief - debuted in March 2002, six months after the series of airplane hijackings that culminated in tragedy at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Since 2002, Tribute in Light has been part of New York City's collective remembrance during every anniversary of the attacks, and will be again this year. In recent years it has been assembled on the roof of the Battery Parking Garage south of the 9/11 Memorial. Twin beams of light - comprised of 88 7,000-watt xenon lightbulbs positioned into two 48-foot squares - reach up to four miles into the sky, recalling the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers that once stood in lower Manhattan. The installation can also be viewed from a 60-mile radius around the city.
Several artists and designers were brought together under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society and Creative Time to conceive Tribute in Light, including Gould, John Bennett, Gustavo Boneverdi, Julian LaVerdiere, and Paul Myoda, with lighting consultant Paul Marantz.
On this 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Tribute in Light remains a beacon of remembrance and reflection.
