Artists and activists convened Wednesday in downtown San Antonio to create a breathtaking chalk art memorial to the victims of the 2022 mass shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary.
At the corner of Navarro and S. St. Mary’s streets, artist Lakey360 worked with others to create a work of remembrance and healing on the tragedy’s one-year anniversary.
“We just wanted to create an opportunity for people to heal, to express their grief,” San Antonio resident Tricia Gronnevik, a leader of the Mothers Against Greg Abbott political action committee, told the Current. “I can’t believe the city didn’t do anything to mark this occasion.”
Mothers Against Greg Abbott helped organize the chalk art memorial.
The creation featured several nods to the number 21, referring to the number of lives lost on the day a gunman entered the elementary school and killed 19 children and two teachers. The artists began work on the tribute Tuesday, but when they came back the following day to complete it, they found their earlier work washed away.
They began again, this time including a chalk rendering of a green Converse high-top with a heart drawn over the toes. The shoe belonged to 10-year-old victim Maite Rodriguez, and has become a symbol of remembrance in the year following the attack.
Photos by Nina Rangel and Tricia Gronnevik.
