PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An exhibition on display this week pays tribute to the souls lost to gun violence.
The Philadelphia-based project Souls Shot: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence links artists with family members or friends of victims of gun violence. The artists learn about the victim to visually portray and memorialize their lives.
Laura Madeline, curator of the project and executive director of The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, said the exhibition is about celebrating those lives, not just mourning them.
"Artists volunteer to make the portrait and we randomly pair them with family members or friends of victims. They meet the family member or friend and get to learn about the life of the person," she said. "It's the connection you feel with the person even though they are no longer with us."
Souls Shots Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence -an exhibition at Presbyterian Church of a Chestnut Hill that pairs families of victims with artists who paint their portraits as tribute.@KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/dEqxddCrLc
— Shara Dae Howard (@SharaDae) January 12, 2021
Gun violence in the Philadelphia region continues to rise, and communities are left to mourn. That's why Madeline wanted to create a space for their stories, their voices.
She said the tributes have also helped families heal.
"When you're in the room with all of these portraits, you really have the sense that they are there too," she added. "So many family members say they feel that they are living on in these representations."
Souls Shot portraits have not been on display recently due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The in-person exhibition runs through Thursday at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. Then, it will move to Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley permanently.
