National Public Monument Commissions

DNY Memorial Wall at Ground Zero

I first met Joseph Petrovics in 2003, after my law firm, Holland & Knight, committed to sponsor the Firefighters’ Memorial Wall to honor the members the Fire Department of New York lost on September 11, 2001. The assignment of finding an artist to sculpt a moment frozen in time was given to me. Joseph came highly recommended, through the Memorial Wall’s designer, Viggo Rambusch of Rambusch studios, and we were soon introduced. Not much later, I stood in awe in New Britain – Newington, Connecticut viewing Joseph’s Iwo Jima Memorial in bronze and granite. It spoke to me of heroes, and I knew then that Joseph Petrovics would sculpt another triumph for the world to see.

Not long after Joseph began his work on the Firefighters’ Memorial Wall, I was called in to approve each step of his sculpting process. My consents came easily as the veritable scene from 9-11 began to unfold. Though this Memorial exudes the portent of loss, it speaks of humanity through masterful depictions of fearless souls committing courageous acts. President George W. Bush, upon his visit to the Memorial Wall, called the work a national memorial. And so it was that yet another national memorial by Joseph Petrovics had come to be.

The United States is blessed by Joseph Petrovics’ 1988 decision to adopt our country as his own, and I am grateful for the impact that Joseph’s work has had on the millions who are compelled to reflection at the Memorial Wall, at the Iwo Jima Memorial, and at his many other remarkable works located throughout the world. His approach is based on his vision, for Joseph does not take on jobs. instead, he takes on missions that involve as much of his heart as his hands and mind. The result, each time, is a work of eternity.

I consider him not only a sculptor of national memorials, but a national treasure himself.

Brian D. Starer

Vice Chair, Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation