By Anthony Rifilato
"I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it," he said. "But when 9/11 hit, I knew I had a purpose for it."
Piaseczny said he felt that the imagery was appropriate to honor those who died, and was compelled to do whatever possible to help others, whether through his volunteerism or art. Within days of the attacks, Piaseczny created artwork, which he intended to be uplifting, respectful and to serve as a tribute to the heroism displayed by firefighters that day.
The graphic designer created a memorial angel - known as the firefighter's angel - and began giving them out near ground zero, at St. Paul's Church.
"The number of victims wasn't known at that point, but the loss of life - particularly among firefighters - would with certainty be enormous and tragic beyond anything we had ever known in this country," Piaseczny said. "That first angel - the firefighter's angel - filled a very, very strong need for healing and hope at that moment."
Piaseczny not only struck a chord with his work, he caught the attention of Baldwin businessman, Tony Scialdone, who was also looking for a way to honor friends, firefighters and police officers who were lost that day.
"I knew a lot of guys who died and guys working on the recovery," said Scialdone, of Brooklyn, who owns Millennium Protective Services on St. Luke's Place. "I told [Keith] that I could help him with his work, and now, we're still doing it."
The two banded together to form ArtAID, and the fledgling non-profit organization has been donating a wide range of memorial artwork and tributes for those who died in the attacks or who have been killed in the line of duty.
The organization is working on a fifth anniversary memorial piece for 9/11, and most recently, ArtAID created memorial prints for Michael Occhino, a New York City sanitation worker who was killed last month when the garbage truck he was driving overturned. They have also created tributes for two firefighters who were killed in the Bronx last month: 43-year-old Fire Lt. Howard J. Carpluk Jr., a 20-year veteran and fellow firefighter, Michael C. Reilly, 25.
More locally, ArtAID is known in Baldwin for its memorials to local residents, such as NYPD detective James Nemorin, who was killed in the line of duty in 2003, and Army Specialist Wilfredo Urbina, who was killed in Iraq in 2004.
The genius behind those works - Piaseczny - has seen his art turn into inspirational symbols for the fallen.
In firehouses, police precincts and in people's homes, his work has become ubiquitous. ArtAID is best known for its 29 foot by nine foot "Never Forget" banner at ground zero with the names of the victims.
As a result of their memorial pieces, Piaseczny and ArtAID have been in high demand since the tragedy.
"We're like first responders," said Piaseczny, 45. "It struck such a chord of need, that the requests were far more than I can provide as an artist. But it's work you cannot refuse."
The artist is a graduate of Manhattanville College and studied abroad at Oxford University, he said. He has also traveled extensively through Europe, where he became fascinated with the imagery of angels.
"As an artist, I was attracted to their beauty," he said. "For me, art has to make a difference, it has to move you. There has to be something beautiful to move your soul."
Initially, Piaseczny started out as a photojournalist, but lately, much of his time is devoted to ArtAID.
"It's been my primary focus, and it's an honor to do it," he said.
In addition to memorial angel pieces and other initiatives, Piaseczny's latest major undertaking has been working on a memorial for the Tribute Center at ground zero, which he said will be minimalist and respectful in design and is slated to open this week.
"This is going to be the acting list of names at ground zero until the opening of the memorial," he said.
Piaseczny also designed the ground zero memorial at the viewing platform in 2001, which Piaseczny considers to be one of his most significant designs and said was the very first memorial installation to formally honor the lives lost on Sept. 11.
"I was asked to create the viewing platform installation to remind visitors - a mixture of gawking tourists and curiosity seekers - that this was actually a very sacred place where thousands of lives were lost and not some devastation zone simply to take pictures to show they were there," he said.
The work, which consisted of 50-foot long, tribute artworks, was originally installed on the family-viewing platform at ground zero, and later, another piece was placed on Fulton and Church Street in 2002.
Despite the sleepless nights and daunting tasks of creating such works, the ArtAID team remains undeterred and hopes to grow as a non-profit in the near future, Scialdone and Piaseczny said.
"I think, for the family members, it's gratifying for them to know that there are people who care about them, that outsiders do care," Scialdone said.
