We are proposing a memorial for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. We are proposing this memorial on a local and state level. This proposal is significant because it’s memorializing a tragedy that happened very recently and the victims of this tragedy shouldn’t be forgotten easily. As political as the issue of gun violence is, we cannot forget the innocent lives that were taken and the grieves of their families. Even though this tragedy happened in Texas, its news shook the whole nation and brought forth the undeniable and escalating issue of school shootings that exists in American society.
One of the more hard-hitting school shootings that happened this year was the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. On May 24 of this year, Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old shot 19 children along with 2 teachers. This tragic shooting left many families broken and lives unlived. The teachers who were killed had been teaching for over four decades. The students who died had dreams of their own. The issue here is not merely about the shooting but also the lack of action from law enforcement. The police officers waited more than an hour outside before confronting the shooter. The fact that an 18-year-old could easily possess firearms and go around shooting and killing other people shows the urgent need for stricter gun control laws. When there is a mass shooting, we focus on it politically and it triggers strong public opinions and debates on a larger scale which is a good thing. However, all these overshadow the victims and the grieves of their families. There have been temporary memorials with hundreds of people leaving flowers and lighting candles for the victims in front of the school. This is how most school shooting victims are commemorated but we want to create a permanent memorial focusing on the grieves. So, we are proposing this memorial with the hope that people will genuinely feel the loss of these innocent lives and resonate with the feelings of those who have lost their loved ones.
The memorial will consist of two parts/components. The first one will be a small area where there will be 21 desks and chairs made of granite. These desks and chairs will be set in a classroom style. Each desk will have the name and age of a victim engraved on it, matching the victim’s handwriting as closely as possible. The desks will also have some information about the victim such as what they wanted to be, and their likes or dislikes. Visitors will be allowed to walk around these structures and will be allowed to place flowers on the chairs. Connected to the area will be a path that will lead to an “exhibition” place or a small building. This small building will be named “Memories of the Lost”. There will be several rooms in this place. Each room will be dimly lighted and display 3D holographic videos of family members of the victims and survivors talking about their experience and what they witnessed during that event. This will allow the visitors to have somewhat of an intimate account of the tragic event. We want to have the memorial in Uvalde Memorial Park which is close enough but not too close to the school primarily because we don’t want people to target the school. There is both a traditional and modern approach to this memorial, with the desks and chairs being more traditional and the hologram video exhibition being more modern way to commemorate something. Having two components to the memorial will reach more people depending on how they are able to sympathize.
The purpose of the desks and chairs area is to have the visitors really sense that these victims were very young children whose life ended in the classroom that day. We decided to place these structures out in the open to symbolize that even though time is passing by and the world is running, the victims’ lives are still. Their dreams and aspirations are forever still. The inscriptions/engravements on the granite desks are for the visitors to form a connection with the victims. We specifically decided to have the inscriptions match the victims’ handwriting as closely as possible to make it more personal as if they are telling their story. The “exhibition” place is for the visitors to have knowledge about the event as well as about the impact it had. The holographic effect will make the visitors feel like the person talking is right in front of them. It’s more intimate and real compared to just showing the videos on screen. The whole concept of the memorial is that we don’t want to tell the story, we want people who experienced the tragedy to tell their story. If the visitors can sympathize with the victims, they will naturally understand the seriousness of gun violence and the need for reform. This memorial will serve as a permanent reminder that such a tragic event happened in American history. It will also be a constant reminder that we as a society can’t move on until we don’t have to grieve the loss of innocent children.
By: Anasofia Caipa and Tsering Gurung
Your proposal is very touching and thoughtful. I really like how in class you mentioned having their names written on the desk as close as possible to their hand writing. I also feel like it is planned out well with the desk and the memorial building.