_{Pictured above is Keith De Cesare, the "Artist of Ground Zero" and founder of ArtAID standing before a special piece that he created for the Living Memorial, displayed at Ground Zero for the 5th Anniversary. In response to the national tragedy of September 11th this individual artist has created and donated a remarkable and growing body of work for many humanitarian causes. Much of his work can be found in the National September 11th Museum.}

A Day Remembered At 8:46 a.m. on September 11th, 2001, Keith was literally shaken out of bed in lower Manhattan by the thunderous sound of American Airlines flight 11 only a few hundred feet above his apartment just seconds before it crashed into the the World Trade Center. On that day he made a commitment to dedicate his life to helping those directly effected by that tragedy. His mission become to heal the grief stricken, to lift spirits and to volunteer his time and creative service as an artist to this personal calling of healing.

A Remarkable Community Along the way he encountered exceptional people and became part of a remarkable community of volunteers, rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero. As a survivor himself he became close to other survivors and those who had lost loved ones on September 11th. He met presidents, governors, and other leaders of the free world. He has served on committees, attend special events and services. More importantly, he was blessed with an historic opportunity to dedicate his life and talent as an artist for humanitarian purposes.

A Special Mission Following this path, in a donation of personal time and resources, he installed and distributed healing works where they would do the most good. In the beginning, he gave the Firefighters Angel to 1st Responders at Ground Zero, and eventually to every firefighter of the FDNY, which inspired a series of Guardian Angel tributes, one for each of the various agencies and departments effected by loss that day, NYPD, PAPD, EMS, etc. These works provided a needed uplift and inspiration when they were most needed, and they continue to be cherished and requested to this day. In addition, he produced the first Ground Zero Memorials on the viewing platforms at the World Trade Center site, initially for family member to be comforted in the knowledge that their loved ones would not be forgotten, and also to remind visitors to the site that they were viewing a sacred place where thousands perished, and not a tourist attraction. Over the past 10 years, this artist has been personally responsible for paying the expenses out of pocket to preseve all the artifacts associated with this installation of primary significance. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has announced the intention to aquire this first Ground Zero Memorial to place on view in the future Museum at Ground Zero, however, that may be years away and your support is needed now to help preseve these materials.

In Service of Humanity Eventually he formed a non-profit foundation called ArtAID, which hosts much of his work on the www.artaid.org website. ArtAID has provided design services for many, including the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, Survivors' Network, September Space, World Trade Cener Families for Proper Burial, September's Mission 911 Campaign for the Living Memorial, WTC Families for Proper Burial, Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, St. Paul's Chapel and engaged in numerous events on a national scale in the years since September 11th , 2001.

See the most recent work for Virginia Tech.

ArtAID Sandy Hook School Angel

a Facebook gallery

How You Can Get Involved
This artist has developed a unique form of humanitarian artwork that has served many deserving causes. Your support is very much needed at this time to be able to continue with this work. Please forward this link to anyone who would be interested in helping out at this time. Thank You.

http://artaid.org/sandy-hook-school/sandyhook-newtown-memorial.html

http://artaid.org/fire/nappi/richard_nappi.html

http://artaid.org/police/figoski/peter-figoski.html