Honoring those lost in Highland Park, IL
on July 4th, 2022
Location
Highland Park, IL
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On July 4th, 2022 the lives of seven people were lost at during a mass shooting that occurred during a Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park. We traveled to Highland Park to help the faces, stories and memories of the seven lives lost. We believe that public communal spaces of mourning and rituals of grief help the processing and healing of the unspeakable acts of violence in the public space.
We created a public altar for each of the seven victims in effort to honor the stories of:
Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park
Irina McCarthy, 35 and her husband Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park
Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park
Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park
Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico
Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan
We also hosted a Free Family-friendly Public Art workshop where the community was invited to take a single rose and write a dedication of hope, compassion or grief to be placed and shared at the public memorial space.
This community care project is made possible through 100% grassroots-funding. Through individual donations, we're able to help hold space in communities being affected by mass gun violence.
Please consider making a 100% tax-deductible donation here to help support the work we we're doing.
Family-Friendly
Onsite Community Art Workshops
We held an onsite community art workshop that gave community members the opportunity to take a flower and leave a message.
Over 350 community members participated in taking a free Rose and handwriting a message of hope, community or healing to leave at the growing public altar space.
We believe that public acts of grieving and mourning help contextualize the space for younger audiences and allow families to process these acts of violence together.
