Connecticut artist Robert Carley created a flag installation in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square.

Robert Carley stands in front of his flag exhibit in Blue Back Square. Sept. 11, 2026. Courtesy of Robert Carley

By Ronni Newton

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, and contemporary artist Robert Carney, who previously created a flag exhibit in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square in celebration of the Fourth of July in 2023, returned to create another unique installation.

“After Sept. 11, 2001, flags sold out in stores,” said Carley. “People were motivated to show their patriotism and support for first responders and victims. They made their own flags. People painted their house like a flag, their car, their mailbox, etc. They channeled their anger over the terrorist attacks into creative ways. It was patriotic as well as therapeutic for some to make flags.”

Carley’s exhibit in West Hartford recreates flags out of multiple materials – and the Sept. 11 exhibit in West Hartford included flags made from red, white, and blue paper bags as well as small cones like children use for soccer practice.

Flag exhibit by Robert Carley in Blue Back Square. Sept. 11, 2026. Courtesy of Robert Carley

After 9/11, Carley traveled the country documenting the different types of flags people created during a time of swelling pride for the country, unity, and patriotism, and he’s continued his documentation of flags. “It helped them heal,” he said. “I traveled to 46 states photographing their patriotic tributes for 25 years. Over the years I felt inspired to create my own flags as well.”

Following his brief exhibit in the Blue Back Square courtyard, Carley’s flag art and photographs commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11 will be on exhibit at the Slater Museum in Norwich, through Dec. 5, 2026.

Robert Carley with his neighbor, Christianna Aldridge, who helped set up the exhibit. Flag exhibit by Robert Carley in Blue Back Square. Sept. 11, 2026. Photo credit: Kevin Ryan

Carley said his next door neighbor, Christianna Aldridge, helped him set up the flags in Blue Back Square – which took several hours.

“I enjoyed talking to the people in the Square about their memories of Sept. 11, 2001. I took pictures of the nice security guard’s patriotic tattoo and people’s flag t-shirts. The young children enjoyed the flags made out of different kinds of materials,” he said.

That security guard, Bob Segar, told Carley that he was a former military MP, and volunteered at Ground Zero right after the towers fell with his German Shepherd, trying to find survivors in the rubble.

Bob Segar shows his tattoo. Flag exhibit by Robert Carley in Blue Back Square. Sept. 11, 2026. Courtesy of Robert Carley

He spent the rest of the evening in West Hartford. “My wife and I stayed late and enjoyed the live music. In honor of 9/11, the musician sang a patriotic song. It was a memorable day at Blue Back Square,” he said.

The experience was even more touching, he said, when a woman who appeared to be homeless assisted him in dismantling the exhibit at the end of the night.

Flag exhibit by Robert Carley in Blue Back Square. Sept. 11, 2026. Courtesy of Robert Carley

Flag exhibit by Robert Carley in Blue Back Square. Sept. 11, 2026. Courtesy of Robert Carley

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