Before he started teaching at Michigan State University, Marco Díaz-Muñoz was an artist. He painted and studied drawing, architecture and visual arts. But he says he gave that up once he began his first job in teaching.
“Art was something of the past, something like a chapter that was closed in the ‘80s,” he said. “I sometimes thought of the time when I could go back to the arts, it seemed like something way in the future, maybe when I retired.”
On February 13, 2023, a gunman entered Díaz-Munoz’s MSU classroom in Berkey Hall, killing two of his students, Alexandria Verner and Arielle Anderson. Another student, Brian Fraser, was also killed in the shooting at the MSU Union.
Since the tragedy, Díaz-Muñoz said he’s gone through various stages of grief and at one point fell into a depression.
“I’ve been able to function with moments that are difficult but most of the time, it is okay.” He said he’s receiving therapy and has been able to create some distance from the event.
Recently, he’s also returned to painting, reopening a part of his past in an effort to help heal his present.
“It’s allowing me to express what sometimes I don't have a way of expressing in words,” he said. “Therefore, I’m channeling all of that into art, and art is also something I love, it just comes natural to me.”
But, Díaz-Muñoz admits, at times, it can be challenging.
“Here I am trying to express what I experienced but it reminds me of what I experienced,” he said.
One of Díaz-Muñoz’s paintings is included in the Broad Art Museum’s current exhibit: “Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism.”
MSU assistant professor of Spanish and Global Studies and documentary filmmaker Scott Boehm is a guest curator for the exhibit. He said it’s meant to inspire people to address the national nightmare of gun violence.
“But not only to dwell on the dark side of that, but also to paint a direction forward of non-violence,” he said.
While the exhibit features works related to the MSU shooting, Boehm said organizers also wanted to include pieces inspired by other acts of gun violence so people could see how they’re linked.
“This is not a new issue certainly for this country. It has gotten worse, and it is something that seems to be penetrating all sorts of spaces across the country,” he said.
The works include a set piece by Manuel Oliver, the parent of a student who was killed in the Parkland shooting. There’s also a replica of Ringo Starr’s rendition of the Knotted Gun Sculpture in tribute to John Lennon
Additionally, the exhibit gives guests the opportunity to share their own stories through the return of the Soul Box Project. It’s a national campaign that brings awareness to gun violence through a collection of origami boxes that honors gun violence victims.
“Maybe you weren’t impacted by February 13 but maybe there’s another date that February 13 will remind you of, or maybe there’s another experience,” said Maya Manuel, the creator of MSU’s Soul Box Project and a curator for the event. .
Manuel said the project, which was on display last year, is a good way to educate people and allow them to connect with one another.
“We do not want to create a sorrow space,” she said. “I want to create a positive space where students can express themselves and feel comfortable to feel what they might have been holding back or express through a piece of art what they haven’t been able to put into words.”
Manuel said she hopes the exhibit's inclusion of other stories — not just MSU’s — will give people the opportunity to come together and maybe use art to heal themselves.
“I just hope that as we move forward with the Soul boxes, and the exhibit that there’s one person that takes that and is able to continue to begin their healing process,” she said.
The Broad Art Museum’s exhibit “Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence through Artivism” runs through Feb. 13.
The Broad Art Museum is a financial supporter of WKAR.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
