Two weeks after the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, artists nationwide are using their craft to address the killings, honor the victims, and call for systematic change. Art forms ranging from murals, paintings, and spoken word to public installations and dance performances are helping Charleston— and the rest of America—unite in the wake of the June 17^th massacre. 

Many artists have channeled their grief and emotions into the creative process, constructing powerful works examining, questioning, and reacting to the tragedy. Using media as disparate as paint and dance, artists illustrate the pain and the rollercoaster of emotions caused by the shooting, while often offering hope for the future. Artists including Jia Sung and Panhandle Slim commemorate the nine victims by visualizing and sharing their stories with the world. Other artists take a historical approach, analyzing both Charleston and the nation’s racial past to gain insight into the present and call for future change.  

By providing an outlet for people to externalize and express their pain, the arts help unite diverse communities. Community arts nonprofit Enough Pie created a communal, art-filled space for reflection and consolation in a vacant Charleston lot. Local poets and musicians captured the city’s solemn zeitgeist in their words while social media campaigns created an online community and spread news across the world. In its many forms, art provides solace and offers a platform to address hatred, as well as to create a vision of a better tomorrow.