The Only Painting to Ever Make Me Cry is Back on Display in Connecticut

Have you ever wept in a Museum? Strange question, but I ask because it's happened to me. It wasn't because the kid in front of me bought the last dinosaur magnet at the Peabody.

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I cried because an artist had captured emotions and feelings that I had felt, and transformed them with paint to canvas. A Masterpiece. That painting is The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: September 11, 2001 by Graydon Parrish. It was commissioned by the New Britain Museum of American Art to commemorate New Britain native Scott O'Brien, who lost his life on that horrible day. Parrish spent 4 years creating it.

My photo does not do it justice, stand in front of it. It's massive, 76 x 210 inches. (6 foot tall, 17.5 wide) and it's not regularly on display. Parrish typically travels to New Britain annually on 9/11 to present his work, but he will not be at the museum this year in 2022, unfortunately. The excellent news is it's back on display at the New Britain Museum of American Art in the Museum's Stanley Works Center.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has just announced that the public is invited to attend the State of Connecticut's annual 9/11 Memorial ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at 5:30PM by the State of Connecticut's Official Memorial at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport.

The events off 9/11/01 had such a profound effect on my life. I have deep respect for those who tried to help those after it happened. Parrish's masterpiece perfectly captures what we felt that day, it's a true treasure here in Connecticut.