It’s hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since the terrible shooting tragedy that occurred at the King Soopers in South Boulder.
The Museum of Boulder is paying homage to the 10 people who died during the tragedy on March 22, 2021, as well as the community’s response in the shooting’s aftermath, with a new exhibit called “Boulder Strong: Still Strong, Remembering March 2021.”
The exhibit consists of a series of collaborative portraits taken by Ross Taylor, an award-winning photographer and assistant professor of journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The portraits depict people with some connection to the tragedy — a cellist who played at the memorial site for several days, the King Soopers’ assistant manager, an inmate who raised money for victims’ families and support staffers from the Boulder Strong Resource Center, for example.
The museum has been collecting and preserving items from the memorial site — Taylor also photographed a museum staff member who cleaned every item left at the site.
There will also be memorabilia collected from the memorial sites, the community and the Boulder Strong Resource Center.
The exhibit opens Friday, Feb. 18 and will run through April 10. The museum is hosting an opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 18 with Taylor, who will share a bit about his process for taking the portraits.
The museum is also inviting people to participate and share their photos or short video clips. The Collections Department is accepting photos of things that resonated with people at the memorial site, such as painted rocks, stuffed animals or poems. These items will be held in the museum’s archives, documented and may be used in future exhibits. People who wish to contribute should send photos to collections@museumofboulder.org.
“We believe that photography can serve as a tool for reflection, story-generating and healing,” according to the museum’s website. “The goal primarily focuses on the therapeutic act of building community through the power of documentary. By allowing a space for those to be heard and seen, documentary work can redirect memories of a moment and allow those negatively affected to reclaim strength through their representation. Together, we process and celebrate the strength seen in each other’s reflection and response to tragedy as we move forward.”
The Museum of Boulder is free for members and children under the age of 5, $10 for adults and $8 for seniors, college students and children age 5-17.
