(warm music) (warm music continues) - Believe it or not, it's been 25 years since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The Peoria Riverfront Museum, in partnership with the city of Peoria and Peoria County, is holding the largest remembrance event in Central Illinois on 9/11.

And the museum also has a brand new exhibit called "We Remember: Stories from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum."

We're joined by the curator of the exhibit, Megan Nguyen, and chief curator, Bill Conger.

Thank you both for coming in.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you, Mark.

- Appreciate it.

- Boy, this is a big deal for Peoria and the Riverfront Museum.

And I know this has been in the works, Bill, for a long time.

Can you tell us the process of how this came about and just how special and unique it is?

- Four years ago, president and CEO John Morris and myself visited New York City and were invited to meet with the CEO and the chief curator of the September 11 Museum and Memorial in New York.

Elizabeth Hillman is the president and CEO, and chief curator Jan Ramirez, who is the only chief curator that the museum has ever had.

So for 25 years, she herself has stewarded all those stories and content.

We resolved that day to work together somehow.

And over four years time, we have kind of negotiated back and forth on how an exhibition in the heartland could look, what it could be.

And they allowed us eventually to actually go into their vaults, into their storage, and see what has never been seen before publicly and allowed us to curate from that collection to create the story.

That has never happened before.

They have lent to other museums objects and pre-curated small exhibits, but they've never allowed a museum to curate from their collection.

- That's amazing.

- It really was.

And here we are.

- And I'm sure every museum in the country would love to have a crack at having these items.

And somehow, through, I guess, a lot of hard work, we got it here in Peoria.

- The hard work came from my colleague next to me, Megan Nguyen, who really, she singlehandedly was allowed to be our spokesperson for Peoria Riverfront Museum and go to New Jersey, where their storage facilities are, and got her eyes on what was there.

And Megan is with us for two years.

She is a Art Bridges Fellow from Art Bridges of Arkansas, Alice Walton's Foundation.

And she has worked so well in the curatorial department.

She was just ready for this project.

So I asked her if she would take this on.

And didn't just take it on, she knocked it out of the park.

Unbelievable work for the first time out.

- So Megan, you go to New Jersey, this warehouse that I'm sure not a lot of people have been in.

- Yeah.

- What's it like?

Describe the scene for us and how you felt being in there.

- Yeah, well, their collection is one of a kind, truly.

And they have thousands of objects.

They're still collecting to this day, as I'm sure you're aware.

But it was offsite facility out in New Jersey, and being there, seeing these objects firsthand was incredibly moving.

And then learning the stories behind each object.

They have a very talented team of staff who've dedicated much of their schooling and training to not only learning how to tell difficult stories but also how to best preserve these objects.

You know, these are sensitive items that are coming from contaminated areas, and so we, for the first time, had to, you know, think about how, beyond just hanging up artworks and installing things into cases, how to best care for these items and keep them in good condition for future generations.

- Do you know roughly how many items they have in this warehouse?

- In this warehouse, I would say roughly, I would guess, 20,000, including artworks, documents, objects, of course.

But they have other offsite facilities that hold larger pieces of steel, one of which we were able to bring to Peoria.

- So when you go in there, and we're gonna talk about the specific items that you were able to curate, when you go in there, do they say, "Okay, this side of the room is maybe what we'll lend you?"

Or do you just say, "Hey, what's that object that's interesting?

Is that something we could do?"

How does that process work?

- It was a little bit of both, actually.

You know, they have a list of items that they offer out to museums, but when we were in there just having conversations about what the potential of this exhibit could be, they really started to think about Peoria, about how we can help tell their story.

And, you know, some of these items that I eventually selected were not originally on the list, but in talking to them and just having conversations with their staff about our goals for the show, they then proposed some new ideas for us, and we will have, you know, on display for the very first time some things that not even the 9/11 Museum has been able to show.

- Wow.

And how many objects were you able to curate for the exhibit?

- So we have about 20 objects coming in from the National Museum in New York, and then that has been paired with a smaller collection of other loans and other items from our own collection.

- So I wanna ask you both.

Bill, we'll start with you.

What's the one object that really is kind of mind-blowing for you and really special?

- The entire exhibition is mind-blowing.

I will pick an artwork that was lent to us by a very important artist from the '80s, '90s, 2000s, named Eric Fischl.

Internationally renowned, collected throughout the world.

And one year after the attacks on New York, he was moved to produce a sculpture.

He was a painter, but he made a sculpture that was exhibited a year later called "Tumbling Woman."

And it is a life-size figure depicted in free fall at the moment of impact.

A very moving and physically incredible object to behold.

The color, the size, the scale, the humanness.

So, being an artist myself, this is a person that I have looked up to my entire career.

And reached out to his studio, and he was so happy that this show was happening and was so eager to participate and took a little work and money, but we got this piece here.

So, really meaningful on so many levels.

And also talks about the role of art in this exhibition.

It is an exhibition of objects culled from actual people who suffered in so many ways on September 11, but it's also about the response.

And the response comes from the creative spirit, which gives form to grief and provides elements of transformation, from pain to hope.

And that part of the exhibition for me was a little bit unexpected and makes it so much more unique than any other exhibit about 9/11 you're ever gonna see.

- Megan, what about you?

- I would say the steel fragment we have is pretty impactful, but I think one that hits more of an inspirational story is a full bunker gear from a fireman who served for the New York Fire Department Ladder 35.

He was actually supposed to be off duty the day of the attacks, just coming off of a 16-hour shift.

But when he heard the call and the alarm bells, he volunteered himself to be part of the rig.

He ended up arriving to the scene, and he was outside putting out car fires.

At the time, there was falling debris and engines were combusting when he was blown from his original standing location following the South Tower collapse.

And thankfully, he was discovered very quickly by some other responders and folks who were there that were caught during the collapse and pulled shortly before the second tower fell.

And he doesn't have, you know, concrete memories of that experience from his retrograde amnesia, but, you know, he became the sole survivor of his ladder.

The rest of his company was inside the South Tower.

And he still is today and continues the work to remember his fallen brothers.

It's particularly special because this bunker gear is actually a loan from him to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, but they have never been able to show it.

They haven't had enough space to.

And so we in Peoria are the first to be able to not only have this on display but talk more about his story, about his commitment to service and putting himself on the line when he didn't need to.

- And you all are doing kind of a full blitz on marketing this and getting this out.

I've seen the TV commercials, and I'm sure we're gonna have people from all over the Midwest, not just Central Illinois, coming to the museum.

When people do come, how much time should they give themselves to go through the exhibit?

- It is text-heavy, and necessarily so.

It's also media-heavy.

So it really is difficult to explain this to people who weren't alive or conscious, mature memory of the event, which is why it's so profound that, I think, Megan took this on.

We take you through the day.

So, we might remember what we were doing, what we were trying to accomplish that day.

It will bring you back.

We have a montage of media that's expertly put together by our technician, Johnny Martinez, at the museum and is encapsulated in three main videos that kind of divide the exhibition in thirds.

And we begin with kind of the blue sky.

Everybody's talking about the blue sky, the purity of that morning, how it would change us forever in retrospect.

So these are some of the touch points that start to come through and emanate through the exhibition.

You will want to hear all of those videos, and they're three-, four-minute videos.

They're not long, but they do take a little bit of attention.

And then, expounding on individual plights and experiences, which Megan has done really singlehandedly, is, I think, worth going through every word.

And I would give yourself a couple hours for the exhibit.

- You recently got a nice gift, a very nice gift that's going to allow school-age kids to come to the museum for years and years.

Speaking of that, is this exhibit something that is okay to bring kids to?

I mean, is it too heavy, quote, unquote, for kids?

- It's never an easy topic to talk about, but I think we designed this show so that this generation, those who were not old enough to remember that experience, like myself, or those who were not even born yet, have a greater understanding of not only the events of 9/11 but how we came together to rebuild in the days following and how we united as one as a nation.

And so we've been very sensitive with the way that we are telling the story.

There is plenty of media out there that depict the towers being hit and the impact.

And we've done, I think, a fairly decent job of making sure that we are not sanitizing the exhibit, so to speak, but that we are touching on the key important facts and information, highlighting important themes that even young visitors can take away.

You know, helping out your neighbor in time of need, being kind to one another.

And so I would say that although it is a difficult topic, we encourage all ages to really take time, and especially for this anniversary, to reflect and remember.

- Sure.

I guess maybe one of the only positive things about 9/11 was that afterwards, as a country, boy, we were together.

We were all on the same team.

Now, 25 years later, maybe we're divided, more divided than we've ever been before.

- It's hard to believe.

- Yeah, what do you think, you know, people can take away from the exhibit, not just what happened, but the aftermath of America coming together?

- Yeah.

The break and the trauma, I guess, that any nation endures creates some bond, creates something.

One way of looking at it is perhaps our divisiveness today is a symptom of really, you know, of a time that doesn't possess those types of problems.

So maybe we need to look at that in a different way.

I don't really know, but I do remember, as you suggest, that there were no enemies at home during that time, that people were a little more patient with each other, things were slower and more reflective.

And it would be nice if it wasn't tragedy that brought that about.

- Yeah.

The exhibit's open now at the Riverfront Museum.

It's open until April, is that right?

- April 11.

- April 11.

Okay.

- Yes.

- We also wanna talk about an event that's going on on September 11 at the Riverfront Museum, as I mentioned off the top, in conjunction with the city of Peoria and the county.

Bill, what's gonna be going on on the 11th?

- Yeah, we're gonna have a big celebration of memory, essentially.

And what I wanted to make sure that we talked about, though, and actually I'm gonna allow Megan to step in.

There's part of the exhibition and the event on September 11 that is extremely important to Peoria, and that is Peoria's one son who was lost that day in the Twin Towers.

So, I'll let Megan go from there.

- Yeah, so in addition to educating visitors on the event itself, we have made some Peoria connections to those who were active here in our community at the time but also one family who experienced a grave loss that day.

Charles Chip Chan was working in Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center during the time of the attacks.

And he had just moved there not too long ago to start his role.

And we've been able to not only remember him but talk more about his life and who he was.

His family has been really supportive of us, not only of the exhibit, but in helping us talk about their late son.

And they've donated a collection of items to our museum, which will also be on display for the very first time.

One being, I think it's a over 12-foot quilt that takes up the last section of the exhibit.

That quilt was produced by members of our own community, students of Richwoods High School faculty who came together after hearing the news and wanted to create something to give to the family that was not able to have remains and have a proper burial.

And so we honor Chip in our exhibit, and we thank the family very much so for their efforts in helping us tell that story and make that connection to Peoria more personal.

- Yeah, that's important for people to hear.

Can you tell me a little bit about, there's a statue by a French sculptor.

I'm not gonna try and pronounce his name.

- Yeah, sure.

- But there's an interesting story behind that.

- It's incredible poetry in this story.

The impressionist sculptor Auguste Rodin was the subject of an exhibition in Peoria at Lakeview Museum, our predecessor in name, in 1988.

It was the biggest show that Lakeview had ever produced and probably competes with shows that we do now.

It was massive.

That collection was really brought about because of an accounting error from Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Group on the 106th through 101st floor of the North Tower, and it happened to be that this accounting error with Gary Bielfeldt, in town still, his wife, Carlotta, was involved with the museum.

As an apology for this accounting error, B. Gerald Cantor offered his collection to Peoria.

It came, produced one of the most incredible shows ever, and as a kind of parting gift, left Peoria with a small bronze Rodin called "Danaid."

The "Danaid" exists still.

And the poetry in this story is that Charles Chip Chan was months into his job at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 106th floor of that building when it came down as well as the collection, the largest collection of Rodin in the world, private collection of Rodin in the world, except for one, the one that exists in Peoria.

So we bring her out as a connecting point.

Just a strange bit of poetry and sad tribute to Peoria's lost son.

It makes a lot of sense to us.

We've been doing this for a number of years.

We've been bringing her out at September 11 to talk about this story.

- Wow.

At the event on 9/11, who are your speakers gonna be?

- In addition to our museum leadership, including our president and CEO as well as some museum board members and leaders who have chaired the 9/11 Advisory Committee to make this all happen, we will have Mr.

Ray LaHood, who was actually in D.C.

on September 11 and did a lot of work out there for us, in addition to our fire chief, Shawn Sollberger, and some of our major sponsors, too, who have helped, contributed to bringing these stories to our community and to Peoria.

- Former county board chair, Andrew Rand, who's been really instrumental in making the exhibit happen and bringing attention to the region through the firefighters.

It's going to be a very emotional and moving and important day.

- Is this open to the public?

Anybody can come?

- Yes, absolutely.

- Anybody, - It's a public invitation to all those who are wanting to commemorate with us on that day.

And we hope that those folks will be able to see the exhibit for themselves too.

- I have a feeling you're gonna have a full house and full houses up until April.

Tell us about how this exhibit ranks with all the other great exhibits that we've seen at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

- Yeah, I'll start by saying, nine years as chief curator, I cannot think of an exhibit that I've worked on here that is more meaningful, more timely, that fills me with more pride and have a feeling of accomplishment in terms of perpetuating a story that is in danger of being lost.

No stories are remembered if they're not told, quite simply.

And we are at a precipice in terms of our population that if this story is not told, I really do believe it will be relegated in terms of its impact.

And this is one small move in that direction to make sure that this is kind of absorbed by younger generations.

It's also very important for older generations to kind of relive a little bit and, as you say, kind of mentioning how our time is currently, it's a good thing for culture to reflect and imagine a time that we could be in now that is so much worse to promote better kind of instinctual reactions with each other.

- Sure.

And Megan, I think this is kind of a golden opportunity for people who may never make it to New York City.

- Absolutely.

- May never make it to ground zero or the museum there.

This is as close maybe as they're ever gonna get to that.

- Absolutely, yeah.

We took a lot of inspiration from the exhibits that have been put on by the National Memorial & Museum.

A lot of the storytelling techniques that we pursued was inspired by what they are already doing in their institution, from, you know, the media, as Bill mentioned, that is included in there, to oral histories.

You know, one fascinating part of this exhibition is we've been able to connect this national tragedy to our local community.

We have firsthand accounts from members of RLI Corporation who's headquartered here in Peoria, sharing their experience of being in New York that day and being near the scene in Lower Manhattan, where everything unfolded.

And we also have an oral history from a member of their company who still works for them today, but he was working in the North Tower, actually, on their 80th floor offices when the first plane hit.

And he recalls feeling the building shake and shares his testimony of how he narrowly escaped during that event and where he was during the time of the fall of the towers.

And so it's extremely captivating and emotional, and I encourage, you know, for all ages to come and be able to learn about the event but also learn about how it impacted our community directly.

There's a pretty straight-through connections to Peoria that we've made.

- Yeah.

And Bill, tell us about the event on the 11th, what time it starts and all that.

- 10:00 AM it starts.

And we'll have a color guard.

We'll be joined by numerous firefighters.

- And other first responders as well, yeah.

- And first responders.

- Well, we thank you for everything you've done.

This is an amazing opportunity for people to check out here in Central Illinois.

Bill Conger and Megan Nguyen, thanks very much for coming on.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, Mark.

- All right, and thank you for joining us.

You can check us out anytime at wtvp.org.

Have a good night.

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