Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
HURON, S.D. - Stephen Troy's latest work, "Three Crosses Towers," is booming in popularity.
The picture is on Web sites and Christian artists have requested it for their compact discs' cover art.
The picture might have potential as a memorial mural, if factors fell together - like a wall and a sponsor.
Troy, the son of Warsaw's Doris Jean Calvert Troy, was looking at the aftermath the 19 terrorists left. He noticed a picture of the toppled trade tower. Three shards were jutting through the ruins.
Looking at that picture, he said, he realized "those people were crucified." Troy sketched three crosses between the World Trade Center remains.
"I have a higher power who I choose to call God," said Troy. "Jesus Christ is my personal savior."
That spirituality gives him inspiration, and trauma brought it to him, he said.
"Trauma got me off my duff. It woke me up," said Troy.
A tour of duty in Vietnam and, later, living among underprivileged people gave him a focused purpose.
He taught teachers and gained teaching certificates. He then, as resident director with South Dakota's art council, began teaching people to create their own art.
His residencies brought him into contact with an assortment of people. He worked with Native Americans on their reservations. He showed urban children art. He offered the mentally ill a route for their expression.
"You complain about your shoes until you see the man without feet," said Troy.
His teaching and sharing have become his purpose.
"My art is not only personal. Teaching is my responsibility. There is not a choice in doing it or not doing," said Troy. "I give them the tools but let them do it themselves. I want them to show me what they can do."
His responsibility delivers his success. When the child discovers a potential for art or has an "a-ha moment" in realizing something new, "I have succeeded," said Troy.
Like the actions of a few men on a nation, one impact can lance the entire community.
