From the foreword to the catalog, The Souls, Volume 6, by Laura Madeleine, Director & Curator:

This exhibition chronicles the sixth Annual Souls Shot: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence, an exhibition  representing just a small fraction of those affected by gun violence in the Philadelphia area. This year we  are showing two separate exhibitions—one traveling in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey. As the Souls Shot Portrait Project has expanded over the last pandemic-challenged months, we have included participants  from across our country. The New Jersey chapter has graciously included all who wish to be a part of this  action to bring attention to the cost of this other epidemic, the epidemic of gun violence. 

To create these portraits the artists participating in this project were randomly paired with the families and  friends of victims or, in some cases, artists already had personal connections with the victims. The artists set  out to illuminate the lives of these victims. The varied approaches and mediums used by the artists are a  fitting testament to the unique qualities of each of the souls portrayed.  

Families of the victims constantly face questions and comments about their loved ones, mostly about the  circumstances of the gun violence. The Souls Shot Portrait Project seeks to focus on the lives that were lived  before that split-second, unacceptable decision was made by the shooter. These people did not deserve the  consequences of that devastating choice. These people were—and are—more than numbers.  

This catalog represents the commitment of all who are involved in the Souls Shot Portrait Project. We will  continue to bring to the public intimate glimpses into the lives cut short by gun violence; to raise awareness  of the terrible cost to our communities; to touch hearts and minds; to move people to take action.  

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 beings; our fellow souls. 

Laura Madeleine, Executive Director and Curator

SCHEDULE OF HOST VENUES

For information on location, times & dates for our in-person exhibitions, please see our Events page by CLICKING HERE.

You can also view more details on our prospective calendar for this exhibition by clicking HERE

THE PORTRAITS

our 2022-2023 volume 6 exhibition catalog

The Artists

Katelyn Adams

Katelyn Adams was captivated by the visual and musical arts at an early age. She became more serious during her studies in the Fine Arts program at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. Since graduating in 2007, Katelyn has exhibited her work in various shows and installments within Pennsylvania. She continues to develop her artistic perspective, and study her love of moody, expressive figurative pieces; in particular, through a strong concentration in oil and watercolor painting as well as photography and design.

IG @klaudesignco | FB @klaudesignco

Nancy Agati

Nancy Agati is a Philadelphia artist whose multidisciplinary work includes painting and works on paper, sculpture, site-specific installation, and public art. Agati holds a BFA from Alfred  University, School of Art & Design, NY, and an MFA from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. She has exhibited her work widely throughout Philadelphia and nationally, with exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, PA; Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC; Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY; and The Calandra Italian American Institute, NY. Recent sculptural installations about nature and the environment were created for the New Jersey Coastal Climate Resilience Project in Atlantic City, the FLOW exhibit at The Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia; and We All Fall Down at The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia.

Agati’s work is in several public collections, including the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Temple University, Fox School of Business. In 2022, Agati received the Ecotopian Toolmaker Award from the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities and an Illuminate the Arts Grant from the City of Philadelphia. She has been a recipient of a Windows of Opportunity Award From the Leeway Foundation and has been awarded artist residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico; Lo Studio dei Nipoti, Calabria, Italy; Main & Station, Nova Scotia; and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Center at Meadowbrook Farm. In 2014, as a Hemera Foundation Tending Space Artist Fellow, Agati began investigating mindfulness meditation in relation to her art-making practice.

Website: www.nancyagati.com | IG @nagati12

Ebony Bennett

Ebony Bennett is a North Philadelphia native. She is known for creating beautiful portrait paintings inspired by everyday people and influenced by Black culture. Recently, Ebony’s artwork has been on display at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Ebony enjoys sharing the joy of art within her community. She has taught art classes to children at the Athletic Recreation Center, Brewerytown Garden and Sound Space Philly.

Website: www.Ebennettart.com | IG @ebennettart

Benton, Sally

Sally Benton was born outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1953. She was drawn to art at a very young age, and after high school, attended Moore College of Art. For the past 10 years, she has been studying oil painting at the Woodmere Art Museum, in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia with Paul DuSold, Academy of Fine Arts alumnus and teacher at the Fleisher Art Memorial and the Wayne Art Center.

From 2016 through 2020, Sally has exhibited her paintings at the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s “Small Paintings” and “Art of the Flower” shows, The New Hope Art League’s 7th Annual Juried Show, The Cheltenham Art league’s 2018 and 2022 Juried Shows, and again, in 2018, as part of a 2-person show at The Hill at Whitemarsh, in Lafayette Hill, PA. In March of 2020, Sally won best still-life at the First Annual Juried Show at The Gallery on the Hill, in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.  

Sally resides in Flourtown, Pennsylvania with her supportive husband, Andy.
Website: www.Sallybentonart.com

Evangeline Bragitikos

Evangeline Bragitikos has been painting for the past 10 years while being a full-time stay-at-home mother and caregiver to her elderly parents. She has taken classes and workshops at Studio Incamminati, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Woodmere Art Museum and privately from artists locally and nationally. She is grateful to all of her teachers and fellow students who have shared their expertise and loving support.

She is inspired by sacred geometry evident in all living things and by the interconnectedness of all beings.

Maryanne Buschini

Maryanne Buschini is a visual artist, and painter. In her figurative paintings, she explores the vulnerability that is part of the human condition. Using found photos as starting reference, her paintings’ subject matter and narrative concerns human emotional responses - those underlying feelings that expose themselves – whether we want them to or not. Her body of work investigates relationships, origins, ancestors, history and community. A large part of her practice is exploring stories and ideas about the relationships in families, hierarchies, culture and place. Viewers often connect with familiar relationships and emotions in these paintings. Buschini is originally from Valhalla, New York.  She has been drawing and painting since she was very young. Over the years she has explored diverse artistic routes—in addition to painting and teaching - designed and created sets for community theater, worked as a graphic designer for corporate and nonprofit settings, and painted portraits for military organizations. She lives with her husband, John Odell, in Malvern Pennsylvania, where she maintains her painting studio. Together they raised two sons, and this year became grandparents. 

Website: www.maryannebuschini.com | IG @buschini_art

Howard Henry Chen

Howard Henry Chen, a transnational conceptual photographer, is from an extended family of war refugees. While the type of gun violence experienced by his family differs from the gun violence experienced by these families in Philadelphia, a similarity exists in how that violence can haunt multiple generations. His personal history of loss and trauma has guided his artistic interests, often drawing him to communities that live with ghosts of one kind or another.

Website: http://www.howardhenrychen.net/ |  IG @howardhenrychen

Elena Cipolla

Elena Cipolla has been creating portraits for over thirty years. Pastel was her first love, but as a result of teaching art for many years, she has branched out to different mediums and also mixing mediums. Creating brings joy to her, learning every time a new work unfolds. It is a honor and a privilege to be part of the Souls Shot Portrait project, as a way of using art to help others.

Website: https://elenacipolla.com/ 

Cathleen Cohen

Cathleen Cohen was the 2019 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A poet, painter and teacher, she created the We the Poets program for children (www.theartwell.org.) Her poems appear in journals such as Apiary, Baltimore Review, East Coast Ink, North of Oxford, One Art Journal, Passager, Philadelphia Stories, Poetica, River Heron Review and Rogue Agent. She authored Camera Obscura (Moonstone Press), Etching the Ghost (Atmosphere Press) and Sparks and Disperses (Cornerstone Press). Her artwork is on view at Cerulean Arts Gallery (www.ceruleanarts.com) and www.cathleencohenart.com

Amanda Condict

My artwork speaks of my everyday contact with people and positions them as central, as subjects in  their own lives, as well as subjects in my artwork. My paintings, photographs, prints and drawings  are about people; their relationships with the things they own, their relationships with each other and  their relationships with me.  Coming of age as a female artist in the early 1970s, it was impossible to not be influenced by the second wave of feminism and the sexual revolution. Over the years, as my graphic design business  serviced mostly women-centric companies in the beauty and fashion industries, most of my personal  work has also been about women, often using myself and other women as the primary subjects. I  have always felt a somewhat perverse dichotomy in the way I used female images in my advertising  work compared to my personal work. But the one constant theme throughout my work is that I have  always been obsessed with drawing the female form and attracted to other artists who do the same.

www.condictandco.com | IG @amandaleecondict | FB Amanda Condict

Loren Dann

Loren Dann’s work explores intersectionality by exposing the difficult questions and unraveling the tangle of answers surrounding this multi-dimensional topic. Loren’s multi-disciplinary approach gives a voice to those who feel distorted and encourages viewers to identify their own roles in forming society’s aesthetic expectations. Her work has been exhibited extensively in New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. Her freelance work makes appearances on material cultural items from album covers to handbags creating a strong and recognizable presence. Loren’s skill as an art educator has allowed her to work with all ages, genders, and races to explore art as a creative and therapeutic outlet for both emotional and physical well-being. Loren also uses her art to encourage diverse communities where all forms of art and expression are encouraged and valued.

Website: http://lorendann.com | IG @lorendann

Alysse Einbender

Alysse Einbender is a fine art sculptor who believes that making, viewing, and interacting with art in all forms has the power to transform lives. The trajectory of her career as a landscape architect was abruptly upended in 2004 by a spinal stroke that caused permanent paralysis. She learned firsthand how healing the practice of making art can be. After a difficult adjustment period, Alysse became a mentor to newly injured patients with spinal cord injuries. When MossRehab in Elkins Park was selected as the only site in the country to test the ReWalk, (an exoskeleton that helps paraplegics walk) Alysse was the first person in the United States to trial the groundbreaking technology. She served as a proud Inglis board member for three consecutive terms and co-founded the United Spinal Association’s Philadelphia Chapter, acting as its president for seven years. While working as Project Manager of the AllAboutArt show at MossRehab, Alysse’s early love of sculpture was reignited and for the last decade she has devoted herself to sharing her journey—three-dimensionally.

www.einbendersculpture.com | IG @einbendersculpture | FB @einbendersculpture

Wendy Elliot-Vandivier

Wendy Elliott-Vandivier is a graduate of Tyler School of Art, Temple University. She has been making art and mischief since she was a young child growing up in Philadelphia. In college, she majored in sculpture and staged a funeral of a disabled poster child to lay stereotypes of pity and helplessness firmly to rest. Her paintings explore issues of family, memory and experiences as a disabled woman. Her autobiographical cartoons focus on attitudinal barriers and stereotypes regarding disabilities, and some of the microaggressions that disabled people experience while living normal, un-inspirational lives.  She is also a photographer of micro-scale monuments in nature, and is often inspired by close-up images that people often do not notice in daily life—tree bark, dead leaves, flower anatomy, and water.

www.wendyevart.com  

Mia Fabrizio

Mia Fabrizio was born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia Area. She received her B.F.A from Tyler School of Art in 2002 and her M.Ed. from Arcadia University in 2006. She taught art in K-12 classrooms for a dozen years before graduating with her M.F.A. from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in 2020. Fabrizio explores identity and social constructs through her layered portraits, mixed media collages, and sculptures. She served as Sculpture faculty at SMFA at Tufts University and at Maine College of Art & Design. Fabrizio currently lives and works in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Website: www.miafabrizio.com | IG: @mia.fabrizio 

RA Friedman

RA Friedman received a BA in Technical Theatre from Harpur College, SUNY and an MFA in Painting from Louisiana State University. He has exhibited his work nationally in venues including InLiquid in Philadelphia, the Merchant’s House Museum, Pratt Institute Manhattan, and Stephen Romano Gallery in New York. Friedman is an instructor at Pratt Institute and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His portrait work has been featured on WHYY, ABC and NBC TV and published in the Broad Street Review and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Website: http://www.rafriedman.com/ | IG @ra_friedman_drawing

Shannon Fugate

Shannon Fugate is an artist and nonprofit arts administrator who lives in the Lehigh Valley area. Currently the Executive Director of The Baum School of Art in Allentown PA, she has dedicated her professional career to the visual arts, with a special focus on arts education and youth outreach programs. She received her BFA, Summa Cum Laude, from Kutztown University, and currently works primarily in watercolor from her home studio.  She has worked in a variety of media, and has exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally.

IG @sfugate_art_illustration

Helena Halstuch

Helene Halstuch studied painting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and Central School of Art in London where she received a BA in Fine Art.  She divides her time painting between Philadelphia and France.

Website: http://www.helenehalstuch.com/ | IG @helenehalstuchpaintings | FB @helene.halstuch

Ann Hayes

Ann Hayes has spent a lifetime painting the people and places of the Jersey Shore. Her art is  filled with light, life and a deep appreciation for the natural beauty of the native landscape. Hayes says “My studies began as a teenager with New York artist Earl Tyler at his summer studio in Bay Head.  He taught traditional methods of perspective, value and figure painting. I use these techniques to portray the experience of everyday life at the shore. The rich ecosystem of oceans and bays, plants and wildlife that are the source of life and livelihoods. I am interested in portraying the complexities of life, the layers of history and the connection to our surroundings that impart a patina to both places and people.” Hayes takes a similar approach to her portrait and figurative paintings, believing their story and surroundings is as important in capturing each person as their age, coloring and features. Hayes is a contributor to the New Jersey Chapter of “Faces Not Numbers” a non-profit group of artists who donate memorial portraits of loved ones lost to Covid-19. The group brings comfort to the families and awareness to the public by commemorating these individuals through art. Hayes has a BA in Studio Art and Art Education from Douglass College, Rutgers University, and has also studied under Nelson Shanks, James Toogood, and Roberta Carter Clark. Her work has been featured in books and magazines including Luxury Living, Night & Day, Down the Shore Once More, Long Beach Island Rhapsody, and Jersey Shore Magazine. 

www.annhayesart.com | IG @annhayesart | FB Ann Hayes

Taylor Hickman

Taylor Hickman is a DEIJ and mental health educator living and working in Philadelphia. With an undergraduate degree in fine arts - focused on printmaking - and a masters in mental health counseling, Taylor is attracted to “craft”, the natural world, and how we define and recognize elements of beauty. Taylor imagines art making as the means with which we reflect outwardly, our inner and outer experiences. Taylor’s art is a reflection of training as well as impulse. As a way to acknowledge and provide recognition to the gun violence epidemic impacting the city in which Taylor was born and raised, she is grateful to be an artist for Souls Shots Portrait Project and work alongside families and friends impacted by violence. Taylor thrives to support lives lived, and memories made through their art. 

www.taylorhickman.weebly.com 

Rebecca Hoenig

I am drawn to the spiritual aspects of art and the essential mystery inherent in all natural and artistic creation. I work in a wide array of media including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and mixed media sculpture. I have participated in many juried group shows as well as several solo exhibitions over the past few decades. I am currently focused on developing my children's book illustration website: www.rebeccajanehoenig.com. I also have a general website. for all my other work : www.rebeccahoenig.com

Sheila Renee Karp

Sheila Renee Karp has always been rooted in the 'on every corner is diversity' aspect of New York City. Her oils and pastels allow her to re-create the intensity she has always felt in the city where she was born by how she crops her images and use of color. She attended the High School of Art and Design, then the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. After moving to Philadelphia she took classes at the Pennsylvania's Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia and art centers throughout the area. Now in Florida she continues a "self-taught" approach by zoom and in-person classes. After taking numerous sculpture classes at the Boca Raton Art School in Florida, she has expanded her art expression through sculpture. 

www.Sheilareneekarp.artspan.com | |G @sheilarenee1948

Guy Kiernan

I've been an artist and creating for as long as I can remember. I love creating and making things; it's a passion that drives me, and brings out something inside of me that takes me to a place of peace and tranquility. I can get lost in myself and lose all track of time whether I'm drawing, painting, building, or imagining what to create. I've been working professionally as a graphic artist, illustrator, and multimedia developer for over twenty years. I love spending my free time with more traditional mediums like pen & ink, pencil, and paint. Art to me has always been a form of meditation: it brings out an inner peace in me that I cannot stop exploring, wondering, and playing with. I'm fascinated with drawing and painting people, and imagining who they are, what they are, and how they are in this world. I hope my artwork makes people wonder as well.

Website: www.guykiernan.com | IG - @guykiernan 

Liebman, Karen

Karen has been making art for most of her life. She has a BA in Art from Temple University but considers that her education is never finished. She continues to take classes and workshops, and experiments with different media and techniques. Karen loves to travel, and to paint scenes inspired by her travels. Karen’s work is in corporate and private collections. She has been accepted to many area juried exhibitions, and her work has won a many awards. She is a member of the Greater Norristown Art League and ARTsisters, and is also a docent at the Michener Art Museum, which she feels has enriched her life and her art.

Website: www.fineartamerica/karenliebman 

Laura Madeleine

While working full time for Souls Shot Portrait Project as its executive director, Laura continues to be a practicing fine artist working in painted batik technique on silk. Highlights of her career, before the Project was born: representation by Rosenfeld Gallery, exhibitions in and awards from Woodmere Art Museum, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Abington Art Center, Main Line Art Center, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, The Plastic Club, and more including the original song cycle by Kile Smith called In This Blue Room (should be in italics), based on her paintings and their ekphrastic poems, commissioned  and performed by Lyric Fest. As an art director and graphic designer: awards from Print, AIGA, The Art Directors' Club, and for illustrated map design for National Geographic Society.  Many thanks to Claire, Charlie, Shivangi, Cole, and Karen for their love and support.

Desiree Norwood

Desiree Norwood is a self taught painter and always looking for the next opportunity to translate what she experiences into art. Although she has had artistic capabilities all her life, she started her professional journey in 2019. Desiree has attended Elizabeth City State University and the Art Institute of Philadelphia where she obtained her associates degree in graphic design in 2011. She has experience working as an art instructor for companies like Painting with a Twist, but she later started her mobile art studio business, Pour Your Art Out LLC, in 2021. Her medium of choice varies from acrylic, pastels and digital art. She is very fond of creating works of art of POC, where her style shows elegance, beauty, love and self worth. 

IG @desireenorwoodart

Laura Orfanelli

Laura Orfanelli is a self taught artist from Chester County Pennsylvania. This is her 5th year participating in the Souls Shot Portrait Project..

IG: @lauraorfanellidesign | FB @LauraOrfanelliDesign

Isabella Salvi

Isabella Salvi is an 18 year old artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the William Penn Charter School and now attends Syracuse University. She majors in Communications Design and rows for their women's crew team. 

Sue Seif

Sue Seif retired after more than 45 years as a medical illustrator, and washonored by the Association of Medical Illustrators with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. She has started on a new endeavor and is a full-time student at Studio Incamminati, studying fine art. She lives in Philadelphia with her little mutt, Stevie. 

www.sueseif.com | IG @sueseiffineart

Spencer Sinclair

Spencer Sinclair is a twenty-three year old African-American artist in New Jersey. She was born in Tucson, she spent her childhood and teen years in many different states along the East Coast. In her senior year of high school, Ms.Sinclair moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, and attended New School for the Arts and Academics, where she studied classical art under Matthew Dickson. During this time, Ms. Sinclair was introduced to charcoal. She made it her primary medium until 2017 when she attended Arizona State University. From then on her focus has been on both charcoal and oil paint. Ms.Sinclair is currently residing in Sicklerville, New Jersey, and is finishing her BFA online at Arizona State. Ms. Sinclair seeks to create a deeper understanding of color and to establish her own style. During her teen years, Ms. Sinclair lived with her grandmother in Pennsylvania and was surrounded by gorgeous art prints and collections. Her grandmother loved reading art books centered around iconic black artists during the Harlem Renaissance. This exposure to art influenced her at a young age. Thus, Ms. Sinclair quickly became an avid student of the arts and studied the works of late African-American artists such as Henry Ossawa Tanner and Scipio Moorhead. In her high school years, it was then that Ms. Sinclair decided to pursue a career in art. Ms. Sinclair is most inspired by the juxtaposition between shadows and light areas (reminiscent of Carravagio's work) and their relationship with each other and the other areas of the composition.

www.sinclairartstudio.com 

Caroline Stoughton

Caroline Stoughton is a Philadelphia-based painter. The subjects of her paintings are drawn from childhood experiences that continue to bring her happiness today, as well as her global travels and studies. The colors that Stoughton utilizes in her paintings are inspired by the flowers she would pick with her grandmother which is something she forever holds dear in her heart. Stoughton translates the colors of those flowers into the colors of all of her subjects, in a way that makes sense to her, as a constant reminder of the vibrancy of life. 

Website: www.carolinestoughton.com | IG @carolinestoughton_art

Stacy Kent Wyckoff

A graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art, now University of the Arts, Stacy has been a design professional in the Philadelphia area for forty years. From 1991 to the present Stacy has held the role of Principal of Kent Design, a small consultancy specializing in Environmental Graphic Design serving institutional clients throughout the mid-Atlantic region. In 2018 she took her first foray into painting through classes at the Woodmere Art Museum. With oils as medium, she gravitates towards portraiture and abstract landscapes. This project marries her love of painting with her concern for community and social justice. This is her second year working with the Souls Shot Portrait Project.

Website: www.kentdesign-gc.com/