The Holocaust: Remember, Reflect, Learn

— Full Artist Narrative

Finalist Proposal for the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza

In 2023–2024, I embarked on one of the most challenging and meaningful creative journeys of my career: developing a mural proposal for the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia invited more than fifty artists to submit concepts; from these, four finalists were selected. I was honored to be among them.

What began as a proposal quickly became an immersive, year-long experience of reading, researching, sketching, reflecting, and engaging with the community. The process demanded not only artistic clarity but emotional stamina and deep moral attention.

I. Immersion: A Year of Research, Reflection, and Listening

From the earliest sketches to the final presentation, this project required me to enter — with humility — into the vast landscape of Holocaust history and memory. I read survivor testimonies, historical accounts, philosophical reflections, and contemporary analyses. I revisited materials I thought I knew well, only to discover how much more there was to learn.

Two trips to Philadelphia were essential to the work. I walked the city, studied the existing memorial, observed how people moved through the space, and held mind-mapping sessions to listen to the stories, questions, and emotional responses of community members. These conversations shaped the emotional architecture of the mural as much as the historical sources did.

I also participated in multiple interviews with the selection committee, where I spoke about my intentions, the conceptual framework of the design, and the ethics of representation. Every step deepened my understanding of the responsibility of public memorial art: to honor the truth, carry memory forward, and engage the public in meaningful reflection.