GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A quarter of a century after the Columbine High School shooting, an artist whose sculpture is featured in ArtPrize says she aims to highlight the efforts to reduce school violence amid what she calls a “lack of progress.”
On April 20, 1999, 12 students and one teacher were killed in a shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. More than 20 people were injured.
Columbine 25 years later: Remembering the 13 lives lost
“This year, 2024, is the 25th anniversary of the Columbine shooting,” Livonia-based artist Samantha Lewis told News 8. “That number of 25 years hit me, because I remember when that happened and it certainly doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. There was, of course, school violence before that happened, but in terms of my memory … that one really stood out to me as kind of the changing point of what started a lot more school lockdowns and a lot more concerns about safety in school.”
The problem has “snowballed” since then, she said.
“It’s not as unique anymore. At that time, it was something that everybody kind of remembers where they were and it’s really cemented in their memory,” Lewis said. “Now, there’s so many school shootings that you really don’t even remember the names in particular.”