By: Follow South Jersey Staff
VINELAND, N.J. – An art exhibit that features portraits celebrating survivors of gun violence and memorializing those whose lives gun violence has claimed will open at Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) Cumberland campus on Friday, January 21.
“Souls Shot Portrait Project: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence” exhibit is being hosted by RCSJ Cumberland campus’ Fine Arts Department and the Arts and Innovation Center (AIC).
The mission of this poignant exhibit is to illuminate the lives of victims cut short by the epidemic of gun violence through the transformative power of art. The artists taking part in this project were either randomly paired with the families and friends of victims or had already known them on a personal level. Artists created the portraits employing a variety of styles, approaches, and mediums to reflect the diversity and individuality of the victims. Artwork by RCSJ Gloucester Associate Professor Eoin Kinnarney will be displayed in the exhibit.
“I am hoping that this powerful show will have an impact on the community,” Jackie Sandro-Greenwell, director of Fine Arts and Clay College, said in a press release from the college. “Gun violence affects not only the person who was fatally shot, but it affects all the lives of the loved ones left to bear the pain of the senseless act of violence. I am hoping people will have compassion and come forward if they know someone who is responsible or involved with a shooting.”
The Philadelphia based program began in 2016 with a “mission is to bring attention to and memorialize the lives lost and tragically altered due to gun violence.”
“By exhibiting the resulting artwork to the public, we invite the community to recognize what has been lost and to take action to end gun violence,” their website states.
Sandro-Greenwell plans to offer space for the loved ones of victims of gun violence to share their thoughts and feelings, during the event.
The program and reception will be held in the AIC, located at 321 High Street in Millville. Free parking is available.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, runs from Jan. 21 through Feb. 27. AIC gallery hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.
For more information about “Souls Shot Portrait Project: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence, please contact Jackie Sandro-Greenwell at 856-776-2381 or jgreenwe@rcsj.edu.
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