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A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 6 november 2019
Survivors' tales part of the art in Superstorm Sandy exhibit

By WAYNE PARRY by notes left by Sandy sur-
Associated Press vivors.
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. The idea is that the power
(AP) — The stories of peo- of survival and rebuilding
ple who survived Super- can "erase" the power of
storm Sandy, scrawled in the storm and its destruc-
their own handwriting, are tion.
an integral part of a new They included tales such as
art exhibit remembering this one from Susan and her
the deadly storm and the family, who lived in Ocean
devastation it caused sev- Grove: "We watched as
en years ago. water streams swept past
The "Just Beachy After San- the house as if we were on
dy" exhibit at Monmouth a moving train."
University in New Jersey is A young woman named
on display through early Lacey from Toms River was
December. It incorporates attending graduate school
people's survival stories into in Massachusetts when the
the artwork, which also in- storm hit, and she and oth-
cludes an obelisk made ers came to New Jersey to
from slices from trees that help with the recovery.
fell during the storm. "The homeowners were in
There are hanging posters varying stages of disbelief,
resembling beach towels despair and denial. One
that present Sandy-related woman was putting her
data in easy-to-grasp vi- photos in boxes, like the
sual terms, and a "climate black mold could be over-
shelter" where all the trap- come. I wore 3 masks and
pings of a home that would had to leave every 20 min-
normally be on the inside This Oct. 21, 2019 photo shows Karen Bright, a professor at Monmouth University, with a Superstorm utes because I was so sick
— chairs, photographs, Sandy-themed art exhibit she and another professor created in West Long Branch, N.J. from the mold that pervad-
drawers — are on the out- Associated Press ed the walls."
side, symbolizing the huge the water rise through the they had three feet of wa- was forced to stay with The roller coaster that
mounds of sodden pos- floor boards. An hour in, we ter. They were too afraid family. Her house was de- plunged off an amusement
sessions that became re- lost power. A little later we of downed power lines, so molished." — Patricia and pier in Seaside Heights and
fuse and had to be hauled were forced up to the sec- they stayed perched on family, Keansburg, New sat in the ocean for months
away from the curb after ond floor. The next morn- top of furniture until the wa- Jersey. became an indelible im-
the Oct. 29, 2012, storm. ing we went to check the ter receded." — Mike and Bright began working on age of the storm's destruc-
Inside the shelter, a record- damage. It looked like a family, Port Monmouth, the project three years ago tion. It still figures in many
ing of the storm pounding tornado had gone through New Jersey. and has been soliciting survivors' memories of San-
the coast plays on a loop. our home." — Sandra Wal- — "Patricia has been dis- storm survivors' stories since dy.
It was created by Karen ters, Keansburg, New Jer- placed from her home January. "I watched images of the
Bright, an art and design sey. since Sandy. The hanging artwork on roller coaster I rode as a
professor, and Amanda — "Adrienne, Mike and Ali- Pat's family used to spend rectangular canvas, bor- child float away into the
Stojanov, an assistant pro- cia decided not to evacu- summers down the shore dered in white, resembles angry sea. It was like my
fessor of communication. ate. They lost power shortly and when her husband beach towels. It takes San- memories were stolen —
"You mention Sandy after Sandy hit and, in the passed, she moved to a dy data and visually rep- erased like they never ex-
around here, and every- dark, they realized that wa- bungalow in Keansburg. resents it in ways with an isted at all," wrote MaryAnn
body dives right into their ter was rushing into their During Sandy, Pat's house immediate, easy-to-grasp St. Jacques, of Mendham,
story," Bright said. "It's right home. Before they knew it, began to flood and she impact. New Jersey.
at the tip of their tongue. I One uses 86 years of data Anthony and Beverly, of
thought, 'How can I make on wave heights off the Highlands, were trapped
this a communal event?' New Jersey coast to form with their cats in the second
I wanted to visualize the a multicolored artwork with floor of their house for two
data and the reality of the an unmistakable surge over days after the storm. They
storm in a way that's more the years toward larger wrote that they remember
accessible to people." waves and bigger storms. watching their refrigerator
The storm was blamed for at Flotsam and jetsam from float through the house.
least 182 deaths in the U.S. the storm are displayed as And the son of a woman
and Caribbean — includ- art in their own right, includ- with end-stage cancer had
ing 48 in New York and 12 ing lengths of weathered this recollection:
in New Jersey — and more nautical rope and fishing "My mother's cars were
than $71 billion in damage line that she plucked from pushing up on the second
in this country alone. New Jersey beaches after floor, dunes to the ceil-
The heart of the exhibit is the storm. ing. My mother had stage
the survivors' stories. Some The "climate shelter" is 4 ovarian cancer; I had
excerpts: topped with a small geo- to carry her to the door to
— "We stayed home for desic dome that represents see for herself. My heart
Sandy. Hurricane Irene temporary shelter. And the broke that day — I lost it in
didn't affect us a year ear- This Oct. 21, 2019 photo shows Karen Bright, a professor at Mon- walls of prints created by the dunes. My mother died
lier; why would Sandy be mouth University, with a Superstorm Sandy-themed art exhibit the two professors are de- nine months later. I could
any different? We watched she and another professor created in West Long Branch, N.J. signed to be covered up never return."q
Associated Press