I ride with Team 26 for Peace, Hope, and Love.
As an artist and a teacher, I was deeply troubled by the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and was moved to create a participatory art project a few months later dealing with gun violence in the US:
https://taraparsons.com/lepetitemorte.html
Le Petite Morte
This project chronicles the deaths by gun violence in the US since the shootings at the Sandy Hook elementary school on December 14, 2012.
This project took place from March 18 - April 19, 2013. More than 3000 balloons, each with the name, age, and date of death of a shooting victim inside, filled the gallery. During the reception on April 2, 2013, viewers used straight pins to pop all of the balloons. The gallery was left with the detritus of the balloons and names on the floor. New balloons were added in the remaining two weeks of the exhibition as more shooting deaths were recorded.
Sandy Hook Ride on Washington
THE WE ARE ONE RIDE
Team 26 will ride from Newtown to Pittsburgh.
We will leave Newtown on April 26th and arrive in Pittsburgh on May 2nd with stops in Peekskill, Morristown, Trenton, Philadelphia, the University of Delaware, Baltimore, Gettysburg, and many small towns.
Our message remains the same:
Peace, Hope, Love.
To reduce gun violence, we must all come together as one Nation to stomp out hate.
So, we'll ride to Pittsburgh uniting Newtown with Squirrel Hill and all communities in between.
We will ride with Charlestown, Christchurch, Sutherland Springs, and Oak Creek in our hearts.
An attack on one faith is an attack on all faiths.
Sandy Hook Ride on Washington