After its exhibition in Utah, America’s Teddy Bear traveled back to Brooklyn, NY, for its second presentation in the U.S. at Windows on Franklin, where he was hosted from April through August 2022.
The left side window presented the Teddy, and the window on the right displayed five facts about Gun Violence in America.
The installation performance took place Saturday, April 23rd at 7PM.
It was particularly special this time to have my daughter, Andrea, helping me place bullets by hand. It wasn’t planned. I believe it was the Teddy’s idea, as he always surprises me with new gifts on every performance. Click through the slideshow to see photos of the installation.
When America’s Teddy Bear was installed at Windows on Franklin, it consisted of 534 bullets. The source of this number comes from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) database, and it includes data for school shootings* that took place between December 2012 – March 2022.
However, this number changed on May 24 when an 18-year-old adolescent entered a public school in Uvalde, TX, opened fire with a recently purchased AR-15 rifle, and killed 19 children and 2 teachers.
The number of bullets on America’s Teddy Bear sadly increased to 555, and 21 new bullets were labeled with the names of the victims.
To cope with the devastating event in Uvalde, and in solidarity with the families of the victims, we organized a Vigil next to America’s Teddy Bear on May 25th. Neighbors in Greenpoint and beyond gathered to show their respect and compassion, together as a community.
America’s Teddy Bear drew so much attention and engagement in the community that Windows on Franklingenerously extended its time from one month to four. During this time, we were able to line up with broader events, like the Eight Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Campaign weekend, on June 3-5, 2022.
Scroll the slideshow bellow and click to view some of these photos, as well as other interesting angles captured of America’s Teddy Bear on this amazing Brooklyn site.
*School Shooting: An incident with death or injury that occurs on school property when students, faculty and/or staff are on the premises. Intent during those times are not restricted to specific types of shootings.
Incidents that take place on or near school property when no students or faculty/staff are present are not considered “school shootings”.
