a bit more about 'dear jeff ...'

CLICK HERE TO SEE INTERVIEW

  

With the airing of Chronicle's piece about 'dear jeff ...' I thought it would be a good time to share the story behind the sculpture and some of my work-in-progress sketches. 

Memorializing Amy Toyen through artist Virginia Fitzgerald's creation 'Dear Jeff'

In front of the Avon Free Public Library in Connecticut is the statue in tribute to Amy Toyen who died during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The story of 'dear jeff . . . '
This dress is a commissioned sculpture for a man, Jeff, who lost his fiancée in the events of 9/11/2001. She had flown to New York early that morning to attend a business breakfast at the Windows of the World restaurant.  

On the 10 year anniversary of this tragedy Jeff felt that it was time to let go of his box of memories. He contacted me and asked me if I could create something from his collection of letters and cards and remnants from the tragedy. I was honored to have been asked and accepted the task.

Jeff handed me a large box full of letters; notes between the couple during college, cards of encouragement for new jobs, the announcement about their engagement, articles about 9/11, the missing person flyers, and then an abundance of condolences cards, from friends, family, coworkers, communities and even strangers. These communiques played a huge role is Jeff's recovery; the power of a caring community.

When Jeff approached me, he didn't want a memorial of his fiancée and her death. He wanted a sculpture that would portray the importance of community, and the positive growth that can come through adversity, as well as a celebration of Amy's spirit. The essence of this dress is similiar to the story of the phoenix, who rises from the ashes renewed after apparent disaster or destruction. 

peace

For the interview, I went through some of my sketchbooks or what I call my daybooks.  These are the books that I carry with me everywhere, and in which I put most everything; my 'to-do' lists, grocery lists, errands, important names and numbers, inspiring pictures, postcards and what-nots, and these are the books in which I write my ideas and figure out how these ideas are going to work.  

Needless to say I have many, many

of these books and it was quite an adventure to find the ones ('dear jeff ...' took me about a year to complete so the process spans 2 daybooks) I was using.  But when I did it was interesting to see my sketches and notes and I thought I'd share some here. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW INTERVEIW

Here is a video of the sculpture on the loading dock at a 9/11 Memorial & Museum warehouse, on the day that I dropped off the sculpture to add to the museum's permanent collection.

in the museum's online catalog