Oregon District shooting memorial progressing; artists urge people to take part
Jan. 25—A memorial for the victims of the 2019 mass shooting in the Oregon District is already making significant progress, well ahead of the five-year anniversary of the tragedy coming Aug. 4.
More than 250 community members have already pitched in to help put together a large mosaic that will be a key part of the public artwork that pays homage to the nine people who were killed, as well as other victims of the massacre.
A four-person team of artists is creating a memorial, called the "Seed of Life," which will be installed in a public plaza near the eastern edge of the East Fifth Street business district in the Oregon District.
The space is meant to be a place of reflection and healing for community members who were impacted by the tragedy.
The plaza, which is next to Trolley Stop tavern, will have metal sculptures, a colorful mosaic on the ground, seating, new plantings and other features.
The memorial should be finished by Aug. 4 of this year, which will mark five years since a dark and painful day in Dayton's history.
On Thursday, a handful of people visited the Dayton Metro Library downtown for a 3-8 p.m. session to help out with the the mosaic.
Volunteers glued porcelain tile pieces onto fiber mesh to help create pinkish petals.
The mosaic will have nine petals representing the nine people who were killed: Lois Oglesby, Saeed Saleh, Derrick Fudge, Nicholas Cumer, Logan Turner, Thomas McNichols, Beatrice Warren-Curtis, Monica Brickhouse and Megan Betts.
Jes McMillan, the artist in charge of the mosaic, said about one-fifth of the mosaic portion of the memorial is finished.
The Seeds of Life mosaic is expected to contain tens of thousands of porcelain tiles. It is expected to be around 500 square feet in size.
McMillan said community members are needed and encouraged to help place the tile pieces.
She said volunteers have pitched in at more than half a dozen public and private events, and there will be more future sessions for people to put together the mosaic.
The mosaic "is giving us the opportunity to physically do something that promotes trauma release and healing in the community," McMillan said. "We all have this heavy, collective grief that we're dealing with, and so this is a process to help with that release."
This story will be updated.
