One woman’s small memorial at the seaside for her brother in New Jersey has become a symbol of hope and honor for thousands of other lost souls. Los Angeles teen has created a patchwork quilt that commemorates her fallen city. It now features the names of hundreds of others from all over the globe.
Here are some examples of what motivated artists based in the United States to create memorials to honor the approximately 5 million deceased worldwide through COVID-19.
WASHINGTON D.C.
Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg bought more than 630,000 small white flags back in June in preparation to stage a huge temporary memorial on the National Mall.
She thought it would be enough to represent all Americans who succumbed to the virus, as the pandemic was on the retreat.
She was wrong. More than 670,000 Americans had already died by the time that “In America: Remember” opened on Sept. 17. The virus’s delta variant was fueling a deadly resurgence. The exhibit’s two week run saw more than 700,000.
Firstenberg was amazed by the way strangers came together in their grief at Oct. 3’s installation.
She said that she was overwhelmed by the generosity of people to share their grief, and the willingness to help lessen it or honor it. “So I saw hope when I looked at those flags. “I believe that humanity will prevail.”
This was the second major memorial to virus victims the Maryland-based artist had created. Firstenberg had previously placed nearly 270,000 white flags in front of Washington’s RFK Stadium last Oct to commemorate the national death toll.
She said, “For the first one my motivation was outrage at the country allowing something like this to happen.” “This time, it was to give us a moment of pause. There have been many deaths. These numbers have made people completely inured.”
WALL TOWNSHIP NEW JERSEY
Rima Samman, her brother Rami, wrote his name on a stone on Jan. 25 and placed it on a Belmar beach, New Jersey. It was surrounded by shells in the form of a heart. If Rami hadn’t died of COVID-19 in May, it would have been his 41st birthday.
After Samman, 42, invited other members of an online support group, to add markers in memory of their loved ones, a temporary memorial was quickly established. There were over 3,000 stones within a dozen hearts that were outlined with yellow-painted clamshells by July.
Samman and others decided to save the memorial as it was located on a public sandy beach, which is exposed to the elements. They took apart the pieces and placed them in display cases.
She recalled, “I knew that if we just destroyed it, it would crush people.” It’s the only way for many people to remember their loved ones.
These displays now form the heart of the Rami’s Heart COVID-19 Memorial. It opened in September at Allaire Community Farm, Wall Township. It features a garden, a walking path, and sculptures and is dedicated to more than 4,000 victims of the virus.
As she continues to mourn the loss of her brother, maintaining the memorial was both rewarding as well as difficult.
Samman stated that it is a double-edged sword. Samman explained, “It’s a dual-edged sword because while working on the memorial helps a lot, every day you are exposed to this grief.” It’s very stressful. It’s important to do it right. It can be exhausting.
LOS ANGELES
Madeleine Fugate’s Memorial Quilt was started in May 2020 as a class project for seventh graders.
Inspired by her mother’s AIDS Memorial Quilt in the 1980s, she encouraged her 13-year-old sister to encourage her family in Los Angeles to send her fabric pieces that represented their loved ones. She would then stitch them together.
The COVID Memorial Quilt is now so large that it covers almost two dozen panels. It also includes 600 memorial squares to honor individuals and groups, including New Zealand’s more then two dozen victims of the virus.
The majority of the quilt is at the Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida. A smaller portion is on permanent display at California Science Center, Los Angeles, and another at the International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Fugate, Fugate’s mother, and a small group of dedicated volunteers meet every Sunday to embroider and sew panels. Victims’ families donate fabric and other materials.
She is a freshman in high school and plans to continue the project indefinitely.
She said, “I want everyone to be remembered so that families can heal these people and represent them as real people who lived.”
Fugate would love to see a formalized national memorial for COVID-19 victim one day and possibly even a national day in remembrance.
She said, “It would be incredible to see that happen. But we’re still technically fighting this war against the virus.” We are not there yet so we have to continue doing what we are doing. We are the triage. We are the triage.
