Creating A Memorial To Survivors | Sojourners

Creating A Memorial To Survivors

“It's for all the people hurt in the past who weren't able to speak their truth.”
A Memorial to Survivors of Sexual Violence in Minneapolis. The murals are done with mosaics of blue, silver, brown and red colors.
Photo by Katie Kolanda

Lori Greene is a mosaic artist living in Minnesota. She spoke to Sojourners' Jenna Barnett about creating the first permanent memorial to sexual violence survivors in the United States.

“WHEN SARAH Super asked if I would help create a memorial to survivors of rape and sexual assault, I said ‘yes’ immediately. I’m also a survivor, so it was a no-brainer. Burying pain will not help us recover.

The memorial [in Minneapolis] is painful, but it’s not just pain. I call the first [of the five] panels ‘Sorrow.’ A person in red is curled up in the snow. It’s dark; there are trees everywhere. In panel two are two figures: the same figure, who is clearly crying, and a purple figure holding them. There’s a little sunrise on the horizon. We have a memorial to Holocaust victims. We have the new lynching memorial. And these things are making a difference.

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The cover of the February 2021 issue features a photo of artist Makoto Fujimura painting a cup.
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