As millions, no doubt, will commemorate this year’s 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Boise’s World Trade Center Memorial invites something quite personal: peace and solitude.
“It’s a place to reflect on what happened,” said Boise Mayor Lauren McLean. “And it’s a place to be thankful for what we have as a country. It’s a place to go for reflection.”
In 2013, artist J. Amber Klinsky completed the memorial, which is part of the Idaho Fallen Firefighters Memorial Park along Shoreline Drive and the Boise River Greenbelt. The Boise memorial incorporates a weathered steel beam salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
“The sculpture is a series of steel rings that hold the piece of the [salvaged WTC beam] at eye level,” said Klinsky. “I wanted to make something simple and beautiful; but the focus was really on that piece of beam.”
McLlean said the Idaho Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Boise Fire Department put in a request for a beam from the World Trade Center in 2012.
“Once we were granted the beam, the city set about, through Arts and History, in creating a selection panel, and began judging ten submissions,” said McLean. “The panel ultimately selected J. Amber Klinsky’s work.”
Klinsky and McLean joined George Prentice to talk about the memorial and how the city has updated the site. Also, Klinsky shared why the memorial is so personal for her.
“My mother was a flight attendant at the time of 9/11. So was I,” said Klinsky. “On 9/11, I was scheduled to check in for a flight that morning.”
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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