Unbelieveable

As we get the catalog for the third edition of the exhibition ready for the printer, we are well into planning the 4th edition. We are continuously contacted by interested people; interested as artists, as hosts, as volunteers, and, sadly, as family members who have lost loved ones to the violence. The most recent note was from someone who has lost five family members. Five. I had to count on my fingers as I read the note and realized it was a list. I am not sure how one survives that kind of tragic torture. How do families pull through that level of hurt? We have heard from many families that this project is helpful in the healing process. I think that is for two reasons: It is not because the portraits are all realistic and recognizable portraits of their loved ones, because they are not, they are artists’ interpretations of a life lived, but because the portraits are serving as ambassadors reminding the viewers that these were actual people with interesting and rich lives who have been lost and that is truly reaching the viewers and moving people to take action. It is completely unacceptable that one family should lose one member, much less multiple members. Our hearts go out to the grieving and we will continue with this project until this lunacy stops.