wfn.org | Church Center chapel receives banner commemorating terrorist attack on New York

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-286

Church Center chapel receives banner commemorating terrorist attack on New York

by Clayton Morris
cmorris@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) The Chapel of Christ the Lord at the Episcopal Church Center in New York 
City has just received an offering from the Rev. Eliza Linley, a priest in the Diocese 
of California. She created a banner (see photo) which now hangs in the chapel as a 
powerful reminder of the profundity of the events of September 11 and their impact on 
our lives and future. 

     When asked what inspiration was behind this creation, she responded, "I'd been 
feeling so useless in the wake of the disasters, as I know many of us have. I found 
myself just glued to CNN, unable to turn it off. I wanted to give something besides 
money and blood, and started to think about a memorial piece. The Church Center chapel 
just seemed like the right place. I wanted the work to be about the journey from 
despair to hope. But silk painting is a lyrical medium that doesn't lend itself to 
images of destruction. So I made a digital image from news photos and had it photo 
silk-screened onto white silk. I then hand painted the rest of the image with silk dyes 
and resist. The dyes are then set by steaming."

     The banner is titled "Requiem" and this legend accompanies the work:

     They are with us - leaves on the tree of life, 

     their souls are colors of an endless, varied tapestry, 

     each color vital to the whole, 

     each strand infinitely valued in the eyes of God. 

     Linley lives in Berkeley and is an artist, architect, and a founding member of the 
Episcopal Church in the Visual Arts. The mission of ECVA is to raise awareness of the 
visual arts in the Church. Check their web site at http://www.ecva.org for changing 
shows of work by artists nationwide. 

--Clayton Morris is liturgical officer in the office of Liturgy and Music for the 
Episcopal Church.