AMAZING RESPONSE AT EINSTEIN AND MOVING ON TO THE EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL

The portraits were hung in a very busy hallway for most of the month of June at Einstein Hospital. We could barely get them hung as passersby stopped to talk to us about them, some remembering some of the souls who spent their last moments at that very hospital. Those who did not have connections stopped to talk, as well, and were so happy to know that these victims were being remembered in such a touching way.

The hospital held a reception for the staff, artists, and families of the victims, in early June which was covered by the Inquirer and resulted in a sensitively written article about the project on the front page of the Sunday edition (above the fold!) Many thanks to Aneri Pattani for her insightful description of the project and of the state of the gun violence epidemic. https://www.inquirer.com/health/gun-violence-gunshot-victim-portrait-souls-shot-einstein-medical-center-philadelphia-20190613.html​

At the reception there were representatives from Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence, from our project, from the Trauma Center and from one of the participating artists, Lisa Domenic, who used to work in the there. There were also performances by a poet and a dancer. It was truly a meaningful, thoughtful evening that gives us some hope that we are making some kind of a difference and moving, not as quickly as we would like, ahead towards the solutions we need.

The portraits now hang at the beautiful Episcopal Cathedral on 38th Street, between Market and Chestnut, in Philadelphia. There will a special worship service and reception afterward on a Sunday morning in July, date to be determined.