Thank you very much for sending the pamphlet and article about “The Hearts Project.” I had no idea, living in Montana, that so many people in Arkansas died during the pandemic. What a beautiful way to honor them. Imagining myself into this creative process, I sense how you created meaning out of the suffering, slowly and carefully cutting the initial hearts as a way of remembering an individual who might be lost in the staggering statistics. I also appreciate the different themes in each panel, helping us remember all the frontline workers who bore the brunt of this trauma in its early stages. I felt a wave of pleasure in seeing Joel’s patient and precise work as he constructed the panels—structural integrity a challenge in frames so large, but also light. As we move into the next national trauma brought on by the incoming administration, it would be so easy for us to forget this period in our history. You have helped your communities find a way to remember. For me, remembering means re-membering: putting back together a fractured world. You have done this beautifully. Thank you for sharing your creative efforts with us.
Gary W. Hawk
