This week my children and I visited the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT. The museum was small but quaint. The Museum’s permanent collection is made up of approximately 5,000 works of American art. There are 680 oil paintings, 1,050 drawings, 860 graphics, 160 sculptures, 25 photographs, and 1,460 illustrations. The museum houses a children’s art lab and a beautiful café on the park. We enjoyed walking around taking in the different styles before I zoomed in on a piece.

The piece that caught my attention was the “The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: September 11, 2001”, by Graydon Parrish. The mural caught my eye immediately. It is humongous oil painting, standing 8 feet tall by 18 feet long. The painting took four years to complete and is an allegorical representation of the September 11th tragedy. It is mind blowing to say the least and very tasteful. I couldn’t capture the entire mural, so I broke it down in photos from left to right, which is how the cycle reads.

Here's my interpretation. The beach is a symbol of Manhattan the island. The papers sprawled around on the sand represent the United States Consitution. I think that Graydon used children to represent the innocent passengers on the highjacked airplanes. They are blindfolded because they didn't know their fate. The twins obviously represent the towers. The man dying represents the many victims, and the women mourning represent the victim's families. I think that the women are naked to reflect lonliness. The older man, lying on the flower petals represents the survivors in the building and in the surrounding areas. He is masked and lying down because he was hurt and will continue to hurt as a result on the hazardous chemicals he inhaled in the air. He is holding a red ribbon which is tribute to lives lost. This red ribbon around the young girl's eyes is hiding her youth and innocence from the destruction that has passed. The Statue of Liberty looms in the background to remind us of America's freedom.