9/11 Museum Unveils 25th-Anniversary Exhibition, Opens Sept. 12

Q: How did children who lost parents on 9/11 turn their grief into a 15-foot phoenix sculpture that anchors a new memorial exhibit?

They did it through a group art project at America’s Camp, where children who had lost parents and other loved ones on 9/11 worked together in 2006 to create **“Feathers of the Phoenix,”** a 15-foot **papier-mâché** sculpture. The museum describes the piece as a symbol of **healing, renewal and resilience**. In practical terms, the children took a shared experience of grief and turned it into a collective act of making something lasting and public. By shaping a phoenix — a figure traditionally associated with rising after destruction — they expressed how loss could be transformed into purpose. Museum President and CEO **Elizabeth L. Hillman** said the sculpture reflects how those children grew up and chose to **turn grief into service**. In the new exhibition, the work serves as a visual anchor for the broader idea that many families affected by 9/11 responded not only with mourning, but with action — through public service, caregiving, advocacy and community leadership. That is why the phoenix sits at the center of **“In Their Honor: 25 Years of 9/11-Inspired Service.”** It is both a memorial object and evidence of how children directly touched by the attacks began converting private pain into a message of hope and service for others.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 10

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is marking the attacks' 25th anniversary with “In Their Honor,” a new exhibition on how Sept. 11 shaped lives and inspired public service; it opens to visitors on Sept. 12.
The show uses artifacts, interactive displays and firsthand accounts from military members, first responders, volunteers, educators and victims' families to explain 9/11's lasting impact to younger people with no memory of the attacks.
A 15-foot papier-mâché sculpture, “Feathers of the Phoenix,” made by children who lost loved ones at 9/11, serves as the exhibition's signature artifact and a symbol of grief turned into lifelong service.
The museum is also offering a free 35-minute digital learning film with six personal stories and age-tailored educational materials, part of a broader push to help the next generation carry forward lessons from a catastrophe that killed nearly 3,000 people.