Iraq Names Project Makes Its Way Down Alberta
There are a lot of street artists around Alberta but none take the name quite as literally as Nancy Hiss. Nancy is in the process of writing the names in chalk on the sidewalks of Portland of all the coalition forces who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Considering that as of 8/31/07 4,035 coalition forces have died, this is no small commitment. There are no firm numbers on Iraqi dead but the low end estimate is 71,000.
Nancy is writing the soldier’s last names in order by the date they died. Fittingly, she started the project at 5:30 AM on Memorial Day in front of the Federal Building. At 15th and Alberta, she had completed six miles of names. At 22nd and Alberta, she had completed the names of those who died by the end of February, 2006.
Nancy, who is an architect by day, gets up early to work on the project each weekday and works on it all day on weekends. She said it was important to work on the project every day. I asked her how she got the idea for the project. She had been taking an art class and noticed that her art was highly personal, in a way self-involved. The idea to write the names in chalk on the sidewalks came to her when she noticed that the work of many of the younger students was very political.
I asked her what she’s learned from the project and she said she’s noticed trends. She was surprised at how many Hispanic names are on the list and she’s noticed a marked decrease in names not common in the U.S. which demonstrates the decline in support for the war around the world.
Nancy started writing names at 5th and Broadway and at 6th and Yamhill had completed the names of those who died prior to President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech given on May 1, 2003. I’m not great with distances but I’m guessing that’s little more than half a mile. It’s a stark example of how many people have sacrificed their lives since Bush swaggered across that aircraft carrier.
Nancy says her goal for the project is to get people talking about the war. Most of us are overwhelmed by the unrelenting bad news coming out of Iraq and have given up on being able to make a difference. Nancy and her work are a great example of how we can each make a difference in our own unique way. If you would like to help, contact her at dan.namesproject@gmail.com or visit the website at http://www.iraqnamesproject.org/.
Related Sites:
Iraq Names Project: http://www.iraqnamesproject.org/
Iraq Names Project Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/iraqnamesproject/
Names and Bios of the Dead: www.CNN.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties
Iraqi’s Killed: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/
Site Honoring Every Killed American: www.militarycity.com/valor/honor.html
Military Families Speak Out: http://www.mfso-oregon.org/
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans: http://www.nchv.org/index.cfm/
Veterans for Peace, Portland: www.dunckleystreet.com/vfpchapter72
Central City Concern: http://www.centralcityconcern.org/Sister’s of the Road: http://www.sistersoftheroadcafe.org/
There are a lot of street artists around Alberta but none take the name quite as literally as Nancy Hiss. Nancy is in the process of writing the names in chalk on the sidewalks of Portland of all the coalition forces who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Considering that as of 8/31/07 4,035 coalition forces have died, this is no small commitment. There are no firm numbers on Iraqi dead but the low end estimate is 71,000.
Nancy is writing the soldier’s last names in order by the date they died. Fittingly, she started the project at 5:30 AM on Memorial Day in front of the Federal Building. At 15th and Alberta, she had completed six miles of names. At 22nd and Alberta, she had completed the names of those who died by the end of February, 2006.
Nancy, who is an architect by day, gets up early to work on the project each weekday and works on it all day on weekends. She said it was important to work on the project every day. I asked her how she got the idea for the project. She had been taking an art class and noticed that her art was highly personal, in a way self-involved. The idea to write the names in chalk on the sidewalks came to her when she noticed that the work of many of the younger students was very political.
I asked her what she’s learned from the project and she said she’s noticed trends. She was surprised at how many Hispanic names are on the list and she’s noticed a marked decrease in names not common in the U.S. which demonstrates the decline in support for the war around the world.
Nancy started writing names at 5th and Broadway and at 6th and Yamhill had completed the names of those who died prior to President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech given on May 1, 2003. I’m not great with distances but I’m guessing that’s little more than half a mile. It’s a stark example of how many people have sacrificed their lives since Bush swaggered across that aircraft carrier.
Nancy says her goal for the project is to get people talking about the war. Most of us are overwhelmed by the unrelenting bad news coming out of Iraq and have given up on being able to make a difference. Nancy and her work are a great example of how we can each make a difference in our own unique way. If you would like to help, contact her at dan.namesproject@gmail.com or visit the website at http://www.iraqnamesproject.org/.
Related Sites:
Iraq Names Project: http://www.iraqnamesproject.org/
Iraq Names Project Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/iraqnamesproject/
Names and Bios of the Dead: www.CNN.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties
Iraqi’s Killed: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/
Site Honoring Every Killed American: www.militarycity.com/valor/honor.html
Military Families Speak Out: http://www.mfso-oregon.org/
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans: http://www.nchv.org/index.cfm/
Veterans for Peace, Portland: www.dunckleystreet.com/vfpchapter72
Central City Concern: http://www.centralcityconcern.org/Sister’s of the Road: http://www.sistersoftheroadcafe.org/
