By Ashley Kasprzak and Lisa Cirincione, JVA Consulting

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved a request from the Mizel Museum to acquire steel from the World Trade Center site. Recycled steel from the Twin Towers has been most notably used in the USS New York, a Navy ship built partially from 7.5 tons of steel originally in the Twin Towers.

The connection between the Mizel Museum and steel from the World Trade Center may not be obvious, yet there is a clear link. The Mizel Museum has the mission to present the continuum of the Jewish people within a multicultural context through the arts and has intentionally expanded its focus areas to include education about cultural diversity and the results of cultural intolerance, of which the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is a prime example. Central to its programs is the message that violence committed against one group of people is violence against all (www.mizelmuseum.org). The educational programming that the Mizel Museum provides educates people of all races and cultures about how we are all similar.

Although exact plans for the steel are still to come, the Mizel Museum anticipates that the steel will be installed at Babi Yar Park. This park commemorates those who were murdered in the Ukraine by Nazis during World War II. Thousands of bodies were buried in a ravine, known as Babi Yar. The Museum is developing plans to add five new components to the existing park: 1) a sculptural component; 2) a memorial wall or element to be added at a third point of a Star of David shaped pathway; 3) a wall or boundary following Havana Street; 4) a plaza, courtyard or experiential nature-place associated with the environment/landscape; and 5) a footprint for a potential indoor installation area or structure, A Museum of Conscience, which connects to the natural plaza area.

To learn more about the Mizel Museum, contact Ellen Premack at 303.394.9993, ext. 1010 or ellen@mizelmuseum.org.