Karen Hunter McLaughlin

As The MamaCita Cooperative, Brenda, Janice, Julie, Karen, and Kimberly, will create an art installation titled, One Year, that is made up of 331 sculpted wire vessels—one for each murder victim in the city of Philadelphia in 2012.  The complex installation will be accompanied by stories, images and video about courageous women who have endured the murder of a child.

As The MamaCita Cooperative, Brenda, Janice, Julie, Karen, and Kimberly will create hundreds of steel wire vessels, each housing a natural found object such as a feather, seedpod or stone. One piece will be sculpted for each murder victim in Philadelphia in 2012. The artwork will be created over the year in collaboration with Mothers in Charge, an organization started by and for women who have endured the murder of a child. The vessels will be installed as a group in public places in 2013 to testify to those that have succumbed to violence and the mothers who grieve their loss. The installation will include information about the violence prevention work accomplished by Mothers in Charge. By viewing the loss of life through the eyes of a mother and learning how this group has transformed grief into positive action, the MamaCita artists hope to change the hearts, minds, and actions of those who experience art.