Souls Shot Portrait Project

Souls Shot Portrait Project envisions a community free from gun violence. Organizers pair artists with families or friends of victims of gun violence. The artists meet with the victim’s loved ones to learn about the lives they lived. They use photographs, mementos, videos, and stories to create diverse works of art that relay the essence of the person being portrayed. The artists, families, and friends who participate in Souls Shot Portrait Project are incredibly brave and generous. The artists donate their time and talent, and the grieving family and friend participants graciously share treasured and intimate details about their loved ones with the artists, who are strangers to them. This trust, this bond, is the basis for this powerful and poignant exhibition.

Portraits have the unique ability to represent the soul of the subject and profoundly affect those who see them. This invitational, rather than confrontational, approach leads viewers to a place of empathy in hopes to affect true change. Souls Shot Portrait Project’s mission is to bring attention to and memorialize the lives lost and tragically altered due to gun violence. The Project began in Philadelphia and is grateful to be able to continue its mission in Harrisburg to represent those affected from other areas of the state.

“We hope that this project brings joy and peace to the families and friends of victims and, by bringing attention to the scourge of gun violence in this way, be a call to action to all who see them. We will continue with this project, expand its reach, and hopefully reach the blessed day it will no longer be needed.”

A resources page on the Souls Shot Portrait Project website facilitates action and provides resources to help those coping with grief: www.soulsshotportraitproject.org