Two years after the MSU mass shooting, a new art exhibit explores healing from gun violence

Yahoo

08-02-2025

Boxes of different designs and colors from the Soul Box project, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Nearly two years after the Feb. 13, 2023, mass shooting at Michigan State University, the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on campus hosted a Friday opening of a new exhibition, 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism.'
The exhibition will be on display until Thursday, which marks the two-year anniversary of the shooting that killed students Brian Fraser, Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner, and injured five people. A community resource fair at the exhibition is being held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Works about gun violence and its victims are featured, created by survivors and activists, including MSU professor Marco Díaz Muñoz, whose classroom in Berkey Hall was a site of the 2023 shooting. and Manuel Oliver, who lost his son, Joaquin, in the 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting. Artwork from former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr's famous piece, 'Right Gun (Knot for Violence),' is also part of the show.
The centerpiece of the show is 'The Soul Box Project,' an interactive installation featuring 'soul boxes' from community members reflecting their experiences with gun violence and their hopes for healing. Attendees are invited to create their own soul box on site.
MSU professor Scott Boehm and End Gun Violence Michigan organizer and MSU alumna Maya Manuel are co-curators of the exhibition.
'The pain and trauma from gun violence never really goes away, but we can work to change what it means to us. Art and activism have both been important ways for me and others to turn our pain into power. I want survivors everywhere to know: You're not alone,' said Manuel.
Visitors look at the painting by Marco Diaz Muñoz MSU professor of language and humanities and survivor of the February 13 shooting in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Towards the end of the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening, the public applauds the presentation of the authors on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Cassidy Howard (left) and Aidan Tripp (right), creators of the short film What's Left Behind, give a speech to the public after the screening of their film during the opening of the Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism exhibition at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Short film about emotional consequences of gun violence 'What's Left Behind' by Cassidy Howard and Aidan Tripp is being screened in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Audience reactions during artists' speeches speech in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Visitors look at the numerous little boxes of the Soul Box Project before the authors' speeches in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Glass reflection of the boxes with the names of the MSU students killed two years ago on February 13 by a gunman at Berkey Hall in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Maya Manuel, an MSU alum and creator of the Soul Box Project, and Scott Boehm, Associate Professor of Spanish & Global Studies at MSU minutes before their speeches during the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
MSU alum and creator of the Soul Box Project, Maya Manuel, 22, hold her hands during the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Marco Diaz Muñoz, 65, MSU professor of language and humanities and survivor of the February 13 shooting during his speech in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Marco Diaz Muñoz, 65, MSU professor of language and humanities and survivor of the February 13 shooting during his speech in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Boxes from The Soul Box Project with the names of the MSU students murdered two years ago on February 13 in Berkey Hall by a gunman, displayed in the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
People walk and look at paintings by Marco Diaz Muñoz, MSU professor survivor (right) and Parkland activist Manuel Oliver, the parent of a student killed in the Parkland shooting (left) int the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Maya Manuel, an MSU alum and creator of the Soul Box Project speaks at her speech during 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition opening at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
The Knotted Gun Sculpture by former Beatle Ringo Starr as part of 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Visitors observe the stacked boxes of the Soul Box Project before the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition inauguration begins at the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Visitor points out boxes in the Soul Box project as part of the 'Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism' exhibition inauguration at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum on February 7, 2025. | Erick Díaz Veliz
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