Memorial News

World Trade Center Site to Become Cultural Center
The four cultural centers that are to occupy the World Trade Center 
site have been announced - the Freedom Center, The Drawing Center, 
the Signature Theatre Company Signature Center and the Joyce Theater 
Foundation, Inc. International Dance Center. The four were chosen by 
the LDMC from a list of 113 cultural institutions which vied for inclusion 
in the World Trade Center site. These chosen few are intended to 
reshape the cultural life of Lower Manhattan, offering a mélange of art, 
history, dance, and theater. 

The Freedom Center will host exhibitions “centered on humankind’s 
enduring quest for freedom.” The center is designed to evoke institutions 
such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, showcasing history 
to provoke contemporary consciousness. The center also hopes to attract 
world leaders and thinkers to conduct lectures and symposiums. The 
Drawing Center will feature exhibits of historical and contemporary drawings 
within an expansive gallery space. Plans also include an art education 
program, a bookstore, and a library, all to broaden pubic exposure to 
drawing as an art form. The Signature Theater Company’s center will 
produce season-long explorations of the works of a particular playwright - 
past seasons have featured such luminaries as Sam Shepard and Arthur 
Miller.
 
The center is planned to feature three theaters, a café and a bookstore. 
The theaters will also hold music performances, film presentations, and 
community events. The Joyce Theater International Dance Center will 
present diverse dance performers, from Savion Glover to the Joffrey 
Ballet. “The positive impact of the Joyce Center at the World Trade 
Center site lies in its ability to provide a creative outlet to society – a 
means by which people can turn their sense of loss into something 
beautifully constructive,” said SFA’s own Sharon Estacio, a dancer who 
has performed at the Joyce Theater. “The center ultimately assists in 
transforming emotional responses into bodies of inspiration for all to 
benefit from. “In a time when arts’ funding is scarcer by the day, the
effect of incorporating these four cultural institutions to the site will be 
massive,” added Estacio.  She echoes widespread hopes that the 
rebuilding will signify a cultural rebirth in Lower Manhattan.