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 are remembering a great artist and good friend who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center 11 years ago today.

 to the dedication the permanent installation of the late artist Michael Richards' sculpture "Are You Down?"

Richards was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Franconia Artistic Director John Hock says Richards was an internationally recognized artist in the midst of a promising career.

Michael Richards, standing next to his work "Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian"; many of Richards' works were inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen

Hock says that while Richards was working on the original "Are You Down?" - which is made of fiberglass resin - he mentioned that he eventually wanted to cast it in bronze, but he never got the chance. In the years since his death the resin sculpture - still at Franconia - began to deteriorate.

In "Are You Down?" three parachutists who have fallen from the sky sit disconsolate on the ground in what appear to be puddles of tar.

"Are You Down?" is composed of three life-sized human figures, cast from Richards' own face and body. They represent three downed aviators from the all-black Tuskegee Airmen's Squadron of the Second World War. Hock says the work speaks not only of the exhilaration of flight but also of the dreams of freedom that have crashed to the ground.

This is the first permanent installation at Franconia Sculpture Park. Normally the park's exhibition is constantly changing. However Hock says Richards' death was significant both for the immediate community and the country, and merits this remembrance.

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

Author

The acclaimed sculptor was working in his studio in the World Trade Center on 9-11-2001; Franconia has recast one of his sculptures and is dedicating it tonight.

On 9/11, Franconia remembers Michael Richards

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