9/11 Art Gift From Russia

World-renowned Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli - President of the Russian Academy of Arts - has created a monument entitled "To The Struggle Against World Terrorism," a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and the artist to the people of the United States. The monument will be dedicated on the five-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The art will be the centerpiece of a two-acre park opposite lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center towers stood. It is in view of both the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero. The 100-foot-tall, 175-ton, bronze-clad tower encloses a 40-foot steel teardrop. The monument’s eleven-sided granite based includes the names of all those who perished in the initial explosion at the World Trade Center in 1993 and in the 2001 attacks. The sculpture was shipped to the States in pieces from St. Petersburg, where it was created by the Russian foundry that two centuries ago cast the bronze statues for Peter the Great's summer gardens. For the full story - click the title Irish Art