Bullets Have Names

Deaths by guns have skyrocketed in Portland over the past years. There were 102 deaths by bullets in 2022. Some just blocks from my home. I originally developed this screen printed art as a social awareness assignment for my screen printing class at school. At the time I printed in the spring, there were already 32 deaths by gun. In December, there was a shooting at my inner Portland, Oregon high school. There were not any deaths, but there could have been many. This needs to stop. I decided I wanted to develop this work beyond the one assignment. These concepts show how Bullets Have Names could artfully create awareness in Portland, Oregon and perhaps prompt change in our gun laws and violence. The typography of the victims’ names becomes the chaotic, yet bonded artwork. A woven community of those killed. The color palette is symbolic of danger, like we see on warning signs and police tape.

Social Awareness Campaign

2022-2023

WHEATPASTE POSTINGS

This art would be placed at the location of each death. The bullet graphics hold the names of each person shot and killed at that location.

Portland White Stag Takeover Sign

The white stag on the famous Portland, Oregon sign is replaced with a glowing pistol and the hashtag: #BulletsHaveNames. The message can’t be ignored. Portland is now famous for gun deaths after 102 deaths by bullets in 2022.

Projected Bullet Rain Concept

Projected names of the people killed by gun violence in Portland and images of bullets rain down the sides of the landmark Union Station tower in Portland, Oregon. The projection continues one night for each person killed this year - as of December 31, 2022, the projection would run for 102 nights. It rains a lot in Portland, and now it is raining bullets.