A note from Laura Madeleine and Rebecca Thornburgh

The statistics are relentless and disturbing. The details are gruesome and troubling. The destructive nature of gun violence is evident every single day. Obscured by the numbers are the realities of the lives lost, the lives destroyed.

Victims’ families constantly face questions and comments about their loved ones, mostly about the circumstances of the gun violence. We seek to focus on the lives that were lived before the split second, unacceptable, bad decision that was made by the shooter. These were people who did not deserve the consequences of that devastating choice. These people were – and are – more than numbers.

The artists participating in the Souls Shot: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence were matched with the families and friends of victims, or, in some cases, artists already had personal connections with victims. The artists set out to illuminate the lives of these victims. These portraits represent only a very small fraction of the people affected by this epidemic of gun violence.

On behalf of all those who participated in creating this exhibition, we hope you will be moved by the images and that you will get to know the depth of these unique human being, our fellow souls.

Many thanks to the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill and Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence for their sponsorship of this exhibition.

FOR THE FULL COMMENTARIES FROM THE ARTISTS, FAMILES & FRIENDS OF THE VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE ON ALL THE ARTWORKS, PLEASE VIEW OUR VIRTUAL EXHIBITION ON THIS PAGE.

the portraits

FOR THE FULL COMMENTARIES FROM THE ARTISTS, FAMILES & FRIENDS OF THE VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE ON ALL THE ARTWORKS, PLEASE VIEW OUR VIRTUAL EXHIBITION LOCATED ON THIS PAGE.

The Artists

Meri Adelman

Meri Adelman received her B.F.A. cum laude from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her M.A. in Art History from Temple University. She was the Curator of Education at Woodmere Art Museum for 13 years.

Donna Backues

Donna Backues has a BA in Studio Art from Southern Illinois University and an MFA from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

After working as a graphic designer in the USA, Donna lived for 18 years in Indonesia working in grassroots community development using her art skills in various capacities.

Currently residing in Philadelphia, Donna has been awarded residencies through the Philadelphia Art Museum’s Delphi Art Futures & Art Partners program and Spiral Q. In 2013 Donna won first prize in the American Batik Design Competition, and in 2014 she was awarded the Art & Change Grant by the Leeway foundation and the New Courtland Fellowship in 2017. Four of her paintings are in the Philadelphia Convention Center’s permanent collection. Her murals can be seen in Philadelphia, Camden NJ and in Leeds, UK. www.donnabackues.com

Constance Brady

Constance Brady (b. Wilmington, DE) moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1997 where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute and at Columbia University studied Advanced Clinical Social Work. As the 2013-2015 Postgraduate Behavioral Health Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, for two years Constance trained as a member of a multi-disciplinary ambulatory treatment team in a community-based outpatient acute services unit, conducted several hundred mobile crisis psychiatric evaluations, developed triage and comprehensive acute psychosocial assessments. Her pursuit of painting has been lauded as "constant and profound" by Artist and Curator Ernesto Pujol who describes Constance's approach "...she pushes her painting medium, sampling from its rich historical archive, while at the same time trying to raise it to a new contemporary dimension". Ms. Brady's works have been exhibited and published internationally. Recognized as one of the world's top graffiti writers by Publisher's Weekly, paintings from Constance's "City Series", a body of work spanning from 2001 to 2006, are featured in Nicholas Ganz's Graffiti World (New York. Abrams, 2004. ISBN: 0810949792) and Graffiti Women (New York. Abrams, 2006. ISBN: 0810957477). The artist is seeking new representation.

For more information, please visit www.constancebrady.com or contact the artist's studio directly atinfo@constancebrady.com.

Beth Carson

Beth Carson is a mother, grandmother, designer and artist. Working mostly in oil, she is inspired by the everyday moments in life. Her goal is to capture those moments that might otherwise be considered too "normal" to otherwise be remembered. Her work can be viewed at www.bethcarsondesign.com or on instagram @bethcarsondesign.

Jonny Castro

Jonny Castro is an 11 year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department and currently serves as their lead Forensic Composite Artist. In his spare time, he paints portraits of Police Officers and Military Personnel that have been killed in the line of duty, and sends them to their families and departments. It's done 100% free of charge. He has completed over 130 portraits to date.

Karen Shechtman Cole

Graduating from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, as a painter and art educator, Philadelphia artist Karen Shechtman Cole has explored and exhibited a wide variety of media over the years. From painting to ceramics, glass, mixed media sculpture and then returning to her love of painting and collage, she continues to experiment with her love of color, pattern, line and texture in her mixed media creations. She has exhibited at the Snyderman-Works Gallery, Woodmere Art Museum, Wayne Art Center, University of the Arts, and other venues. Karen has written articles for magazines including Somerset Studio, Art Journaling Magazine, Artful Blogging, Belle Armoire Jewelry and Artists Café. She is a featured artist in the books Creative Wildfire, by L.K. Ludwig, and The Pulse of Mixed Media, by Seth Apter, both available from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Lisa Domenic

Lisa Domenic is a former emergency room nurse and artist living in Philadelphia with her family. The Souls Shot Portrait Project integrated both painting the portrait of long-time friend and trauma patient John Marynowitz. She began painting in 2011 after a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, and believes life’s setbacks can either hold us in place or push us forward. Lisa has a passion for giving shape and voice to those moments and uses the medium of oil paint for its adaptability and forgiving nature. She is a member of Cheltenham Art Center, exhibits locally and studied with noted artists Paul Kane, Joseph Sweeney, and Ty Hodanish.

Mikel Elam

Mikel received his BFA in painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, attended the School of Visual Arts in New York in their Master’s program, and the Schuylkill Academy of Fine Art for Old World Drawing and Painting in Philadelphia. His work has been exhibited at Da Vinci Art alliance, Woodmere Art Museum (Maurice Freed Memorial Prize for Mixed Media), Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, InLiquid, Moore College of Art, The Painted Bride Art Center, and many more galleries and venues in Philadelphia. He has shown his work in many exhibitions elsewhere in this country and abroad including Art Basel in Miami and New York, Ohio, London, Switzerland, Paris, and Germany. His work has been in publications such as Biennale Internationale Dell’Arte Contemporanea Catalog, Vibe, Inquirer Magazine, Seven Arts Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine, and many more publications.

Helene Halstuch

Helene Halstuch received her BA in Fine Art from the Central School of Art in London and her art teacher's certificate from London University Institute of Education. She lived in SW France and visits there every year to paint in the landscape. Helene exhibits her work locally at the Chestnut Hill Gallery and is a member of The Plastic Club and the National Association of Women Artists.

Christopher Hardgrove

Christopher resides in Philadelphia after finishing an art residency in Florence, Italy and working on an MFA at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He graduated from the University of Miami receiving his BA in Studio Art and BS in Advertising, minoring in Architecture and Marketing. He spreads his knowledge and love for art over video, graphic design, sculpture, and multi-media installations.

Corinne Holloway

Corinne Holloway uses her art to explore metaphysical concepts ranging from the intrinsic value of the individual to the problem of pain. In her paintings and drawings, she often juxtaposes the beautiful with the grotesque, and the sorrowful with the joyful, in order to show the truth of our world in both its reflective glory and fallen mess. Although Holloway is primarily an abstract painter, she has an affinity for both portraiture and figurative drawing which stems from her love of fiction and narrative. Holloway uses art as visual storytelling in order to communicate truth.

Anna Kocher

Anna Kocher received her BA in Fine Art in 2002, after time spent studying art at Temple and in Orvieto, Italy. Since that time she has done work for commission and exhibited in galleries, churches, schools and other venues. Throughout her career as an artist she has had the privilege of organizing projects and exhibits in churches, schools and prisons. She lives with her husband and three children in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Laura Madeleine

Laura is a fine artist working in painted batik technique on silk. She was represented by the venerable Rosenfeld Gallery and now shows in various venues in Philadelphia and elsewhere. She has received many awards for her work over the years from Woodmere Art Museum, and many more institutions. Her series of batik paintings paired with ekphrastic poems called Waxing Poetic inspired the original song cycle In This Blue Room composed by Kile Smith and performed by Lyric Fest. She is a former designer and art director, receiving awards from Print and AIGA. She worked for several years as an illustrated map designer for the National Geographic Society. She teaches children and adults, when asked, and participates in outreach programs. Her finest creations are Claire, Charles, and Cole Pritchard. To view more of her work, go to laurabatik.com.

Paula Mandel

A native of Philadelphia, Paula Mandel received degrees in Fine Arts and Psychology from Temple University. She worked in oils/mixed media for 30 years, creating psychological portraits. For more than a decade she has studied all methods of manipulating glass with internationally renowned artists and has morphed into a glass/mixed media sculptor. Mandel’s interactive sculptures based on toys are included in volume 1 of Best in America: Glass Artists and Artisans. Along with multiple solo exhibitions, she has been invited to exhibit her work in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions including the “Best of Philadelphia Glass Artists” exhibition at the National Liberty Museum, Snyderman Works Gallery, “Women in Glass” at the Wayne Art Center, Rosemont College, Drexel University, and Philadelphia’s City Hall. Mandel, along with fellow artist Joan Myerson Shrager, has curated multiple exhibits in the area. In addition, the two artists co-founded and co-direct the nationally award-winning Philadelphia After-School: The Stained Glass Project: Windows That Open Doors, now in its 12th year.

Nathalie Miller

Nathalie Miller is an artist, living in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. Utilizing mixed media, she works to make art that focuses on current affairs and individuals' relationship to the world.

Ann Price Hartzell

My earliest memories are of my grandmother’s studio, in the cupola of an old mansion, on Gowan Avenue. She was an illustrator of children’s books in the early 1900’s. Her artistic vision has been with me as long as I can remember. I have dabbled in art all my life. I have operated my own apparel business, creating one-of-a-kind women’s accessories and wraps, for many years. I have never done a portrait outside of classes at school. The Souls Shot: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence has been a moving experience. The anguishing story of (Stephen) Khiry Johnson and the Johnson family, who have lost two promising young men to gun violence, should be enough. We must lend our voices, our art, our lives to end these murders.

Karen Ruggles

Karen Ruggles is an assistant professor at DeSales University specializing in digital art and 3D animation. She works in digital media.

Monique Sarkessian

A Philadelphia artist who creates vibrant oil and encaustic wax paintings that express the joy found in finding the divine in everyday life. Monique Sarkessian earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in 1987. In continuing studies she has studied 18th Century European furniture painting, art education, and traditional icon painting with a Russian master iconographer. She has also taken workshops with internationally recognized painters. Since 1984, Monique’s work has been shown and honored with awards at numerous exhibitions across the country including 2 museums. One of her most recent exhibitions was a solo exhibition at Villanova University Art Gallery, which was widely acclaimed. Some of her recent awards include second place for painting out of 84 painters in the Plein Air Brandywine Valley Art Competition, 3rd place in Plein Air Brandywine 3 , second place in Bucks County Plein Air Paint Out, Fleisher Art Memorial juried show, as well as awards by Artist’s Equity, juried shows at Harcum College, Longwood Gardens Plein Air Competition, Montgomery County Community College, Main Line Art Center and Chester County Art Association juried shows. Her work is featured in Art Up Close shown at Art Basel, Miami, Art Expo NY, Spectrum Miami, Architectural Digest fairs and in publications Art in America Guide 2016 and Art Up Close World Edition 2015-17. www.MoniqueSarkessian.com

Joan Myerson Shrager

Joan Myerson Shrager is a professional digital artist, painter and sculptor, former director of ArtForms Gallery, Manayunk. She is co-founder/director with Paula Mandel of the award winning Stained Glass Project: Windows That Open Doors now in its 12th year, a non-profit after school art program for underserved Philadelphia Public School youngsters. Since 2009 she has created over 100 PowerPoint presentations with the senior rabbi of Reform Congregation

Keneseth Israel. Her digital and conventional work has been exhibited in hundreds of invitational solo and group exhibitions. It is in the

collections of Harcum College, at the Kevin D. Marlo Gallery; University of Pennsylvania; Drexel University and the Museum of Computer Art (MOCA).

Recent Exhibitions: 2014 Solo exhibitions at St. John’s Lutheran Church Gallery, Melrose Park; 9/11 Exhibition Harcum College; Group exhibition at Bryn Athyn Museum.

2015 Group invitational exhibition at Old City Jewish Art Center; invitational group exhibition at Temple Judea Museum, Philadelphia City Hall; Harcum College. www.joan-myersonshrager.com and MY FRIENDS IN ART Joan Myerson Shrager Facebook Page

B. Douglas Smith

B. Douglas Smith is a modern artist and Army veteran based out Philadelphia. For the past 15 years he has exhibited his unique soulful creations throughout the tri-state area as well as Germany and Italy. Highlights include three sculptures selected for Philadelphia Sculptors, "Pinned" juried exhibition and an abstract video projected at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC for the "Abstract Currents" group show. His passion for art is inspired by his life experiences, friends, family, and an urge to connect with his human family deeper than on the surface of life. He regards his time painting the portrait of Michael John Miller as one of the most transformative and humbling experiences of his art career. Bryan loves painting commissions and will open his South Philly studio by appt. Connect with him on FB at @Painterbry, Instagram at @therealbigbadbry, or email him at Painterbryfineart@gmail.com.

Lauren Vargas

Lauren Vargas lives and works as an artist in North Philadelphia and her current work primarily focuses on portraiture. Her recent work has included a series of portraits about what it means to be a neighbor. Her work has focused largely on her immediate environment: friends, family, my neighborhood. She has worked as a community artist for many years, teaching after-school art classes in painting, drawing and silk-screening to middle school and high school students in Hunting Park. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Fine Arts in 2005. You can check out more of her work at lauren-vargas.com.

David I. Walker

David I. Walker is a writer and multimedia producer, and founder of the Berks Story Project. He lives in Wyomissing, PA.