A public art installation by Madeline Champagne honoring hundreds of 2023 mass shooting victims in the United States
Welcome to “Gun Tragedies : Memorial Stones : 2023,” a two-week public art installation highlighting America’s gun violence epidemic. The memorial, conceived by activist and retired computer analyst Madeline Champagne, invites our community to walk the labyrinth and reflect on the ravages of gun violence in the United States. The memorial is installation is being hosted by Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, North Easton, Mass.
Champagne was inspired to create the memorial after attending a rally sponsored by Moms Demand Action and hearing Ilyse Levine Kanji speak about ongoing trauma caused by a 1993 mass shooting at her workplace. “The tragedy of the victims really hit me,” Champagne said. “I found the Gun Violence Archive website, with up-to-date, accurate data. When I happened to find a good supply of rounded beach stones, I knew what I wanted to do.”
Each of the more than 500 small stones is painted with the date and location of a mass shooting that took place in the United States during 2023. Fatalities are symbolized by painted black ribbons, while injuries are represented by red hearts. “Unless something is changed, these mass shootings will continue,” said Champagne. “I hope that this memorial installation brings the numbers to a more personal level. Each symbol represents a person who left their home one day, and either they didn’t return, or their lives were forever changed.”
The statistical information on which this installation is based came from the Gun Violence Archive, an online archive of gun violence incidents collected from over 7,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence. The archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more victims are shot or killed. Champagne notes that this number understates the devastating impact of gun violence since it does not consider thousands of additional deaths and injuries caused by guns each year. Provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 48,117 people died by guns in 2022, an average of one person every eleven minutes. Guns are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States.
Creating the stones
Madeline Champagne demonstrates the process she uses to create the stones.
“Memorial Stones” ECAT Interview
Madeline Champagne and Rev. John Polk discuss the “Gun Tragedies : Memorial Stones” project with Priscilla Almquist-Olson on ECAT’s Easton Community Forum, September 6, 2023.
A 60 day journey toward justice in a culture of gun violence
As a community of faith, we strive to be visible witnesses and agents of change in addressing the root causes of violence. We recognize that, in many cases, discrimination is a factor in gun violence, and we acknowledge the toxic intersection of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism, and white nationalism.
With this 60-day resource prepared by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we ask you to journey with us through daily observances that revolve around prayer, education, and advocacy.
In some ways we have become inured to gun violence. We must become re-sensitized. We hope this resource will help guide us as a community of believers to follow Jesus’ call to be peacemakers, to pursue justice, and to protect the vulnerable.
