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Read the press release here.

Headless Models of City's Gunshot Victims Deliver 'Powerful' Message

By Josh McGhee | April 10, 2015 7:23pm | Updated on April 13, 2015 8:56am
 The project will pop up at various other locations this summer, organizers said.
The Unforgotten
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RIVER NORTH — Patrice Rembert, 30, wasn't sure exactly what to make of the eight headless models displayed outside St. James Cathedral Friday evening.

But then she noticed a familiar name on a name tag on a polo sweater on one of the models.

"I didn't know what was going on until I saw the name 'Hadiya Pendleton' because it was in the news and it was so tragic," said Rembert, a West Side resident. 

The display was erected Friday by the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence Friday at 65 E. Huron St.

In addition to Pendleton — a 15-year-old high school student killed while at a Kenwood park, a week after she went to President Obama's inauguration in 2012 — the display featured other victims of gun violence, including Blair Holt and Chicago Police Officer Michael Bailey. The models all feature the victims' actual clothing.

Rembert said the "powerful" display definitely lived up to the its name: the Unforgotten.

An Invitation to Meet the Unforgotten:

"It's a pretty powerful and unique public art display," said Colleen Daley, executive director of the coalition. "I've cried a few times today. It's been an emotional day, but I think it's been really good. I feel very lucky to be a part of this," Daley said.

The victims' families were all on hand out Friday morning in support of the project, Daley said.

The models were created and donated by Foote, Cone and Belding. An artist interviewed the victims' families before making them, and name tags were placed on the models with a short description of how each died, said Daley.

They tried to make them as realistic as possible.

"This is their clothes. We didn't go to a store and say this represents them. This is really them. It makes it more personal than just reading it in a newspaper," said Patrick Duffy of Foote, Cone and Belding. "It's really very emotional just reading what happened to them."

Duffy, a 32-year-old Lincoln Square resident, said the model of Pendleton, which he did not work on, especially caught his eye.

"I live in the same city where this is happening. It gives a little bit more of that feeling and emotion to it," he said. "After a while you just kind of forget. This is what it is, 'Unforgotten,' a reminder not to forget."

Duffy said Rembert's reaction was typical.

"It's kind of weird seeing people come up not knowing what's going and seeing this mood settle over them," he said.

While most people were impressed with project, others weren't as accepting, Daley said.

"Some people would say 'Oh god, that's awful. I don't want to see that.' But that's right, gun violence is awful," Daley said.

Daley said the display will pop up at various other locations across the city this summer.

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