by Celina Colby, The Bay State Banner
When the Gun Violence Memorial Project was launched in 2019, there were an average of 700 gun-related deaths every week in the United States. In 2024, the weekly average has been 840. The need for a space of collective mourning, remembrance and awareness is greater than ever.
Created by MASS Design Group and Songha & Company, a producer of public artworks created by conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas, along with gun violence prevention organizations Purpose Over Pain and Everytown for Gun Safety, the installation features a series of glass houses, each built with 700 clear bricks in a reference to that initial weekly casualty figure. Within the boxes are shoes, toys and other memorabilia from real-life victims of gun violence.