Girandola at New York State Museum

For Immediate Release

June 22, 2011

New York State Museum in Albany, New York received into their permanent collection “Remnants of a Memorial” by 9/11 sculptor Robert Girandola of Yardley, Pennsylvania.

On Thursday June 9, 2011 Craig Williams, Curator of History, at the New York State Museum met acclaimed sculptor and painter Robert Girandola at Engine 6 in New York City to take receipt of his work “Remnants of a Memorial.” This 60” x 60” mixed media masterpiece started as the “under-drawing” for Girandola’s bronze memorial, currently installed in New York City on Beekman Street. Both works honor four firefighters from Engine 6 who lost their lives rescuing others on 9/11. Williams and his team collected over three hours of raw footage interviewing firefighters from Engine 6, one of the widows and Girandola, detailing the eight-month journey from concept to delivery of the bronze memorial. “It was a very moving day,” Girandola describes. “From the moment in early May when Mark Schaming (Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs) and Craig Williams saw the work “Remnants of a Memorial” they knew they wanted it to be part of their 9/11 exhibit up in Albany.” The piece is intended to reside near The State Museum’s significant collection of material from the World Trade Center and objects from the international response to the events of September 11, 2001, which tells the story of that day and its aftermath. The World Trade Center: Rescue, Recovery, Response details the history of the World Trade Center, the September 11 attacks, the rescue efforts, the evidence recovery operation at the Fresh Kills facility, and the public response to the September 11th events. The exhibition includes many objects, images, videos, and interactive stations documenting this tragic chapter in New York and America's history. “For me,” Girandola continues “Remnants of a Memorial” is a counterpoint to the bronze that now hangs in New York City. Whereas the bronze symbolizes the strength of the firefighter’s courage, “Remnants” speaks to their soul, to what we lost that day and to the devastation of the living. I am honored that this will be on permanent display to help contribute to their (NY State Museum) amazing collection”

New York State Museum plans to edit the raw footage of all the interviews to present the video as part of an interactive display alongside the mixed media masterpiece “Remnants of a Memorial.” For further information please contact Mark Schaming, Director Of Exhibitions & Public Programs at 3023 Cultural Education Center, Albany, New York, 12230 e-mail: mschamin@mail.nysed.gov or Craig Williams, Curator of History, e-mail: cwillia4@mail.nysed.gov . Go here for more information on the New York State Museum permanent exhibit The World Trade Center: Rescue, Recovery, Response: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/exhibits/longterm/wtc/

Robert Girandola is a painter and sculptor with an MFA from Columbia University. He has exhibited and has been collected both nationally and internationally including twice being accepted into the prestigious “Art of the Northeast” in New Canaan, Connecticut. He is currently the sculptor for the Lower Makefield Veteran’s Monument in Lower Makefield, PA. He can be contacted by e-mail: info@robertgirandola.com. More work by the artist can be seen at http://www.robertgirandola.com .

2nd Annual Veteran's Monument Fundraiser

BE A PART OF LMT VETERANS SQUARE MONUMENT AND
JOIN US FOR OUR 2nd ANNUAL FUNDRAISER AND HELP US REACH $100,000!

We’re already at $90,000!

Featuring Bill Clement, NHL and Flyers Player for 11 years

Thur., April 7, Yardley Inn, 7 to 9 pm

Bill Clement is also an actor and motivational speaker and will discuss the Flyers season, upcoming playoffs, and answer questions. A special menu will be provided, courtesy of Chef Eben Copple. There will be music, basket raffles, and silent auction items including merchandise from the Flyers and the
Phillies, a special bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, a limited edition print by local sculptor Robert Girandola of the 9/11 bronze memorial plaque he created for NYC engine co. 6 in honor of the 4 firefighters lost that day, and much more. Robert is sculpting a life-size bronze eagle for the monument.

Suggested Ticket Donation $45 for adults; children 12 and under $22.50. Tickets will be available via our website http://www.VeteransSquare.org or via check made out to LMT Veterans Committee and mailed to 1100 Edgewood Rd., Yardley; and at the Yardley Inn. For more information, please call 267-274-1195 or email info@VeteransSquare.org. This promises to be a fun-filled evening!

JOIN OUR STEPPING STONE CAMPAIGN

TO BE A PERMANENT PART OF YOUR COMMUNITY MONUMENT

Help us honor veterans of the past, present and future in a peaceful park setting where residents can gather with family, friends and neighbors for public events or on their own. Help us educate the children of our community about the sacrifices made by our service men and women. The site is Veterans Square Park on the corner of Edgewood and Heacock Roads.

Purchase a brick or granite paver with the name of your family, business, a veteran or a loved one –Visit our website http://www.VeteransSquare.org or call 267-274-1195, or mail a donation to the LMT Veterans
Committee, 1100 Edgewood Rd., Yardley, PA 19067.

Honor – Celebrate – Educate

'My Father's Field'

This piece is 5' high by 6' wide and will be the culmination of many of my techniques. It will include both oil and acrylic and mixed media. A landscape that touches on my childhood memories as well as adult themes of awakening and the dream state.

Honor Is a Force Unto Itself

I am an artist. I paint. I sculpt. I make things for people to look at. If I do it right, in the looking, something happens to the person that makes them different for looking. When I write or blog; though, I find myself not writing about my work so much, but about the things that make me who I am. I think it is a round about way of talking about my art. Today's story is about a man who embodies honor. Often it probably seems to him, honor for honor's sake. He has lost so much and has experienced pain beyond which we can understand. Of his character, honor is one element which stays with him even when he doesn't know if it matters anymore. It does though. It moves the people around him, like a force of nature.

My friend Al, who I now call brother is a firefighter from NYC. If you haven't met a firefighter from NYC you are missing out on some of the finest character on the planet. Al was supposed to be at work on the day the towers fell. By chance, he was not. When he saw the news on the television his first instinct was to race at over 100 miles per hour down an empty highway to rescue or be with his fallen comrades. There was nearly no one to rescue. He asked me one night while I was working on the Engine 6 sculpture if I could imagine losing 30 of the closest people in the world to me - I simply said no, I could not.

As the faces of the Engine 6 sculpture continued to take shape, and I worked my way down to Paulie's hand, my aged mentor Laszlo Ispanky visited. In an inspired moment I blogged about earlier, Laszlo cut the lifeline into the firefighter's hand. I told that story to Al and he smiled. I could tell it meant a great deal to him. I still didn't know what 'honor' was though. I was learning this by being in his presence.

Four years later, almost to the month. My mentor died after living a full life. His sculptures circle the globe. He has honored actors and sports figures, politicians and world leaders - works collected by a sitting US President, the Pope and more. When he died, though, at such an old age there were few there to honor the man. I was asked to give the eulogy. On my way to the church a thought occurred to me. I thought, he worked on Paulie's hand, I should tell Al I'll be honoring him that morning. I texted Al. In a few minutes he texted me back 'Go slow to give me time to be there.'

I delivered my eulogy, slowly. I thought there was no way Al could make it - being over an hour away. Why would he? How would he? Delivering the words, I kept glancing to the back of the small church - no sign of him. My eulogy ended, the service ended. Laszlo's ashes were being brought out to the waiting limousine. The doors slowly opened. As the sun broke into the chapel I caught its' glint off a white hat. As I moved closer I saw the striking figure of my friend and brother, Al. He was standing there in full dress, saluting the ashes of my fallen mentor as they were carried to the limousine.

Honor is a force unto itself. It transcends a person and it moves and shapes the world. Why was Al there? Because Laszlo sculpted the hand of his fallen brother. This incredible artist who I thought should have the equivalent of a state funeral for all the work he's put into the world had something far better, something I couldn't have conceived of before that day. He had a man of honor, saluting him on his final journey.

Spanish Dancer

I have blogged about my son before. His efforts out on the 'pitch'. I am certainly proud of him and all his hard work at achieving his dream. Today, though, I learned something about my daughter that brings me to tears.

Emma is a dancer. It is hard to comprehend that sentence if you don't know a dancer. She is fourteen. She has been dancing since four. This year her schedule is six days a week. She has Friday night off, but Monday through Thursday she dances, and Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 6pm. Emma is a dancer.

Last March something very terrible happened to her calf muscle. It locked up. Every time she went on point, a shooting pain radiated up her leg. She struggled to complete her final performance last year, and that was the last she could go up on point. Emma is a dancer, and the tears that followed were many.

She started with a physical therapist last year. Several nights a week she would go and have the knots in her calf rolled out. I'm not sure if I even know how painful that was. Knots the size of a golf ball were almost mercilessly rolled out of her calves, over and over. Every day she would see, could she go up on point today? No. Every day I told her, it's OK love, let your body heal. Listen to your body, it's telling you to slow down, to heal. Every day she worked at it, and several times a week worked with her sports therapist. Emma is a dancer.

Slowly, and with dedication and focus she began to heal. Each day as she came home I would ask her, how did you feel today? Have you gone on point? Just today I learned she was selected for 'Spanish Dancer' in the American Repertory Ballet's Nutcracker at the McCarter Theater in Princeton. This dance is one of the most beautiful I know. I am so proud of my Emma. Did I mention she's a dancer?

I had a dream

Two Moments

When I create my art, I draw a lot on my childhood, my science, my love of philosophy and motivational thinking. I believe motivational thinking is not just 'positive' thinking, it is a process of 'right' thinking, over and over again like weeding a garden. I have found, now, that I have the added blessing to be able to draw on my children's experiences, It's a fascinating thing to watch them grow, navigate through life, experience triumph and failure and dreams. Over the course of a few years, my son experienced two moments that really stood out for me, will probably lead to a painting or a sculpture or something, and also in many ways relates to my earlier work.

My son loves soccer. At the age of four he slept with his soccer ball. In all the years I've known him I think I've seen him more with a soccer ball at his feet than without. As he progressed in age, trying out for the team naturally progressed. It got harder and harder as the competition and skills amped up until one year he was not on the 'top' team. He was on team number three. A tough blow to him but I told him, work hard Harry, believe in your dream, that is all. The next year's tryouts came and this time coaches told him and me, oh yes, he'll move up. When he found out he didn't he came home, told me the news while big tears filled his beautiful blue eyes. It took every fiber in my being to tell him, don't worry Harry, work hard, believe in your dreams. As he left the room I couldn't help but feel the same intense disappointment. Finally the third year came, there he was, out on the try-out field competing against all the 'top' players and I saw him from a distance, standing next to the head of the program. A big burly man who was associated with Man U as legend goes. He was leaning next to my son telling him something. Later I asked "What did he tell you Harry?" My son smiled, he said "Harry, you earned the right to be out on this field." That was the first moment.

A second moment came a few days ago. Practice was on, running an hour and a half. After practice, my son stayed to kick the ball. From the age of four he always stayed to kick the ball. I loved to share with him one of my favorite quotes from Napoleon Hill "There is no traffic on the extra mile." My son loves soccer so much, I don't think he even knows when he's playing extra. But this particular day was special. After about 1/2 hour, in the dark, striking at the goal over and over, his coach emerged from the darkness on the side of the field. In his hands he had five soccer jerseys, each, he told Harry, had a story, which he told. One was from the 1980's World Cup Spain, and on and on. He said "Harry, because you're doing the stuff it takes to get to your dream I want you to take one of these shirts." Standing there, watching both son and coach both 'go the extra mile' - watching them both 'take action' to do the things that meant so much to them moved me so much.

What does it take to achieve your dream?

Do you take action on the things that move you?

Are you willing to endure the frustration, the setback, the pain that your dream sometimes demands?

These are things I think about, love, hope to convey in my art.



It's official! The reviews are in for "Black Gold' available now at Lulu.com:

http://tinyurl.com/2bkx9za

What people are saying:

Gorgeous...wow! ~ Fred Betz

I am so moved! It is fabulous! ~ Robin Pedrero

Some Surprise

What Can We Do When It Seems Too Much?

Take any event in your life. The BP Oil Spill, Stock Market Crash, or even a flat tire at a wrong time – as if there is ever a right time – and events can seem overwhelming, potentially spiraling out of control Some events seem too big, too mind numbing to even act on or think about. But it’s not just in the thinking, the worrying, wondering that magic is found – it’s in the acting towards the things one finds important in their life. Napoleon Hill had a very special phrase for this – Applied Faith. That phrase in and of itself is not a passive one. It’s very nature implies action on and towards the things in life you feel most driven by. Acting with the full faith and confidence that the universe can and will provide for you the tools you need to accomplish your specific goals, goals you feel most compelled by, most connected to – in short, the things you love.

I am so happy to note that a work of mine just recently landed in Canada to a wonderful collector there. It’s called ‘Ogallala’. This piece was inspired by studying the last great depression which was combined with a tragic dust bowl. After years of struggle and suffering, it occurred to someone to search, and what was found was one of the greatest natural water reserves ever discovered, just beneath their feet. The symbolism of this could not be more powerful to me - in the words of Wattles, that I quoted in an earlier blog post, 'never look at the visible supply. Look always at the limitless riches in formless substance and KNOW...' This piece is meant as a visual reminder that there is ALWAYS a solution - and further, the solution really lies deep within each one of us. If we learn the process of shedding fear and begin to trust a world, a universe really, of unlimited potential - there will always be another Ogallala.

So the question isn’t really what is the magnitude of the problem – the question is are you going to muster up enough faith to apply action to your dreams, desires, goals and dreams. Are you going to take action? Because that is where the magic is.

It's official! The reviews are in for "Black Gold' available now at Lulu.com:

http://tinyurl.com/2bkx9za

What people are saying:

Gorgeous...wow! ~ Fred Betz

I am so moved! It is fabulous! ~ Robin Pedrero

Well done my friend! ~ Beth Stafford

Ogallala - Re-Posted for @Sugarwilla

This piece is constructed from concrete, rock, pete moss and semi-precious crystals including amethyst and rose quartz embedded in an expoxy resin which covers the entire work from top to bottom. I estimate it to weigh about thirty pounds. In real life, the concrete area on the top of the piece looks like water at certain angles. The blue area in the center bottom is about two inches thick and simulates the water of Ogallala. This piece was inspired by studying the last great depression which was combined with a tragic dust bowl. After years of struggle and suffering, it occurred to someone to search, and what was found was one of the greatest natural water reserves ever discovered, just beneath their feet. The symbolism of this could not be more powerful to me - in the words of Wattles, that I quoted in an earlier blog post, 'never look at the visible supply. Look always at the limitless riches in formless substance and KNOW...' This piece is meant as a visual reminder that there is ALWAYS a solution - and further, the solution really lies deep within each one of us. If we learn the process of shedding fear and begin to trust a world, a universe really, of unlimited potential - there will always be another Ogallala.