Artist honors martyrs of SC church shooting
Pamela Purdy, acclaimed artist and creator of Icons of The Civil Rights Movement series, has recently unveiled a commemorative art piece, The Emanuel 9, dedicated to the nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church who were murdered in 2015 by a young white man covertly trying to start a race war. The church members unknowingly welcomed this stranger into their Bible study/prayer group, and were shot after studying with him for an hour. The family members of these victims famously forgave this young man for his heinous act in a heart-wrenching address, leading to Governor Nikki Hailey calling for the removal of the controversial Confederate flag from the front of the federal building.
Part of ongoing effort honoring heroes past and present of Civil Rights Movement
This commemorative art piece is part of the larger Icons of the Civil Rights Movement collection and has been dedicated to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church where it is open for public viewing in Charleston, SC.
The portraits from this art piece are also being used in a special fountain installment with nine “jets of life-giving water” in Amazing Grace Park, Clementa Pinckney Memorial, in Marion, SC.
Click the link below to watch Pamela Purdy’s interview on the T.V. program Reel to Reel talking about the Icon’s of the Civil Rights Movement series.