Sago Cross for Whispered Prayers
January 26, 2006, a coal mine explosion at the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia trapped 13 miners for 2 days. Only one miner came out alive.
I felt compelled to do something with the 12 names but didn’t know what. In my studio, I gathered scrap wood and rusted carriage bolts and the cross began to form. It had to be large enough to clearly write the names. With pen in hand, I wrote each miner’s name, over and over again. Four hours later, I had covered the cross with their names. Every motion of my pen was a silent prayer to make sure each man was etched in the Promise of the Cross. When the cross was completed, I bolted it on to a black painted cross that created a visual parenthesis forever holding these 12 men together.
I read Julie Terry’s newspaper article about the Sago Mine Tragedy and contacted her in order to send the cross to the Sago Miner’s Community. She connected me with Pastor Wease and the cross is there.
(Note: Sole survivor Randal McCloy wrote a letter to victim’s families telling them that 3 weeks before the explosion, he and Junior Toler found a gas pocket when drilling bolt holes. Confirmation that it was methane gas was reported to superiors. He noticed the next day that the gas leak was “plugged with glue normally used to secure the bolts.”)
