Tree Sculpture Stands Silent Vigil

When a nearly 50-foot silver maple was near its end on his New Hope farm several years ago, Bruce Gangawer knew whom to call.

Frenchtown artist Greg Napolitan had converted dead trees into art before and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. This time, though, Gangawer’s Paxson Hill Farm Nursery didn’t get a totem pole. Instead, it got a monument.

Gangawer gave Napolitan complete artistic freedom, and turned the massive tree into a sculpture memorializing the events of 9/11.

“I was looking for a way to express the dramatic trauma,” Napolitan said. “I remember watching [the events of 9/11] and not really understanding what was going on.”

The large tree provided the opportunity to express those emotions.

“I dismantled the tree and made the pieces look like twisted metal, into something of a sphere, kind of like the world,” Napolitan said. “It wasn’t an ordinary kind of concept, but it was something that I wanted to express.”

The message is simple.

“I really just wanted to show the mass destruction and how it involved the whole world,” he said. “It all got turned upside down.”

Now the monument is at home on Gangawer’s farm, but the 9/11 anniversary will likely pass quietly.

“Initially, it was kind of emotional,” Gangawer said. “I know it may sound weird, but I’m kind of at peace with it.”