Creating the Tribute in Light

17 Years of Tribute

September 9, 2019

In the fall of 2001, MAS brought together a team of artists and designers in partnership with Creative Time to create a memorial to the victims of September 11. The project, now known as the Tribute in Light, debuted on the six month anniversary of the attacks and MAS continued to produce Tribute in Light each September for the next decade. In 2011, MAS transferred the project to the newly-opened National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which has continued to present it annually.

We hope the lights are a source of comfort and reflection to all as we mark this anniversary. Continue reading for photographs, video, and history on this work of public art and collective remembrance.

 

  • Tribute in Light spotlights illuminate the sky for September 11th anniversary
    Photo: Robert Vizzini, courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York.
    photo 1 of 6
  • Tribute in Light spotlights illuminate the sky for September 11th anniversary
    Photo: Paul Soulellis, courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York.
    photo 2 of 6
  • row of spotlights used for the Tribute in Light display
    Photo: Giles Ashford, courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York.
    photo 3 of 6
  • Tribute in Light spotlights illuminate the sky for September 11th anniversary
    Photo: Robert Vizzini, courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York.
    photo 4 of 6
  • Tribute in Light spotlights illuminate the sky for September 11th anniversary
    Photo: Robert Vizzini, courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York.
    photo 5 of 6
  • Tribute in Light spotlights illuminate the sky for September 11th anniversary
    Photo: Robert Vizzini, courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York.
    photo 6 of 6

History

Tribute in Light was first presented by MAS on March 11, 2002. The artwork was independently conceived by several artists and designers who were brought together under the auspices of MAS and Creative Time in late 2001, as part of MAS’s Imagine New York project.

Comprising eighty-eight 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs positioned into two 48-foot squares that echo the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers, Tribute in Light is assembled each year on a roof near the World Trade Center site. The illuminated memorial reaches four miles into the sky and was the strongest shaft of light ever projected from earth into the night sky at the time of its debut. The installation was designed by John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian Laverdiere, and Paul Myoda, with lighting consultant Paul Marantz. The Tribute was originally made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and with the generous assistance of Con Edison.

Members of the press wishing to speak to the 9/11 Museum about this year’s Tribute may email press@national911memorial.org

Video: Tribute in Light – Assembling the Lights

suggested Viewing Locations

Tribute in Light can be seen from many points across the New York metropolitan area. Some excellent public viewing locations include:

Manhattan:

9/11 Memorial Plaza
Washington Square Park
Union Square Park
Empire State Building (Observation Deck)
Washington Market Park in Tribeca (bounded by Greenwich, Chambers and West streets)

Brooklyn:

Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
Fulton Ferry State Park
69th Street Pier
Pulaski Bridge Pedestrian Walkway
Fort Greene Park

Roosevelt Island:

Waterfront Promenade

Queens:

Gantry Plaza State Park
Rockaway Station, Roxbury

Staten Island:

Ferry Terminal, and on the ferry
St. George Waterfront
Fort Wadsworth

New Jersey:

Liberty State Park (Jersey City)
Owen Grundy Pier (Jersey City)
Newport (Jersey City)
Port Imperial (Weehawken)
Castle Point Promenade (Hoboken)
Pier A Park (Hoboken)
Boulevard East Weehawken)
Exchange Place (Jersey City)
Eagle Rock Reservation (Montclair)

 

Interesting Facts

  • The memorial was originally to be called the Towers in Light, but MAS received feedback from 9/11 families that a name paying tribute to the lives lost rather than the buildings that had once stood would be a more powerful remembrance
  • The Tribute in Light rises miles into the sky and can be seen from 60 miles away
  • As of 2002, the two arrays cast the strongest shaft of light ever projected from earth into the night sky