June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, observed annually to draw attention to the victims of gun violence in the United States, unique among industrialized nations for its high number of gun deaths and gun-related injuries. To mark the opening of this month, State Assemblymember Dana Levenberg hosted Peekskill-based artist Sharon Rubinstein for a special two-day showing of “The Taken and the Left Behind: In the Wake of Gun Violence” in the State Capitol on Tuesday, June 2 and Wednesday, June 3. Rubinstein’s exhibition spotlights nine individuals who were lost to gun violence, centering their personhood as well as the people who were left behind to mourn them.
“Stories like these inspire my commitment to ending gun violence in New York,” said Levenberg. “No family or community should experience this type of shock, devastation, and loss. It is completely unnecessary because it is preventable through better policy. We can see this when we compare the United States’ rates of gun violence and death to those of other industrialized nations.”
Each portrait in “The Taken & The Left Behind” features a victim, happy moments in their life, and the family members and community who mourn them in the background. The series was initially inspired by the stories Rubinstein heard during her time doing communications work for Survivors Empowered, an organization founded by Lonnie and Sandy Phillips, who lost their daughter Jessi to gun violence. Jessi survived one mass shooting only to die in another, the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting, six weeks later. The exhibition has also been shown elsewhere around the country, including at the Miller Senate Office building in Maryland’s state capital.
“I’m thankful that New York State has passed good gun legislation to help avert tragedies, but it is not enough as there are a lot of forces pushing back,” said Rubinstein. “Too many people are being devastated by the loss of their loved ones. There has been a lot of advocacy in this country for a long time, but we still have a hill to climb.”
“I hope this exhibition reminds us all of the cost of our nation’s policy choices and inspires us to push harder in our own state and beyond,” added Levenberg.
