Survivors
- Description
- Lithograph print titled Survivors, created by Brenda Berkman (b. 1951). The print depicts a snow-covered 9/11 Memorial Plaza with the Survivor Tree in the center and a retired police officer, Joe, in the left foreground dressed in an NYPD uniform. The officer is a 9/11 survivor and is looking up at the tree. A small rabbit, representing the artist and fellow 9/11 survivor, is posed by the tree on the right. The One World Trade Center building is in the background. The print is signed.
- Historical Notes
- This print is part of a series titled 36 Views of One World Trade Center, created by 9/11 first responder and FDNY member Brenda Berkman as she documented the construction of the new One World Trade Center building from 36 vantage points around the city. For Berkman, printmaking became a path through the trauma she had experienced on 9/11 and in the subsequent months that she spent at Ground Zero.
Curator's Comment
A pioneering member of the first class of women to join the FDNY, Lieutenant Brenda Berkman learned of a plane crash at the World Trade Center while off duty. She reported to Ladder Company 105, near her home in Brooklyn, and borrowed spare bunker gear that would enable her to join the firefighting. A police officer drove Lieutenant Berkman and others from the firehouse across the Brooklyn Bridge, where they witnessed the collapse of the North Tower and became engulfed in dust. Lieutenant Berkman formed a small team of firefighters and focused their efforts first on the fires burning at 7 World Trade Center and then on searching for survivors. She returned to her own firehouse, Ladder Company 12, around midnight.
Berkman spent much of the following nine-month recovery period at Ground Zero. Working with hand tools and scrutinizing the wreckage for the remains of those who had been killed, Berkman occasionally observed remnants of what had been daily life at the World Trade Center. A crushed fragment of a fire sprinkler, boxes of note cards, and scented bath products that likely had been for sale in one of the concourse level shops were among the artifacts she thought worthy of preservation. By the time of her retirement from the FDNY, Berkman had been promoted to the rank of Captain. Since then, she has pursued her passion for art, including studying at the Art Students League, where she learned various printmaking techniques.
Berkman spent much of the following nine-month recovery period at Ground Zero. Working with hand tools and scrutinizing the wreckage for the remains of those who had been killed, Berkman occasionally observed remnants of what had been daily life at the World Trade Center. A crushed fragment of a fire sprinkler, boxes of note cards, and scented bath products that likely had been for sale in one of the concourse level shops were among the artifacts she thought worthy of preservation. By the time of her retirement from the FDNY, Berkman had been promoted to the rank of Captain. Since then, she has pursued her passion for art, including studying at the Art Students League, where she learned various printmaking techniques.
- Accession Number: C.2016.198.32
- Dimensions: 15.5 in X 11.5 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 39.37 cm X 29.21 cm
- Source: Brenda Berkman
- Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum
Artistic ResponseFirst RespondersNew York City Fire Department (FDNY)Rebuilding After 9/11Survivor Tree
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