EASTHAMPTON – The Massachusetts chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Easthampton City Arts are presenting an art exhibit to “celebrate individual and community resiliency in the face of gun violence.”

Called “Wear Orange: an Art Exhibit,” the exhibit will feature works from more than 50 artists, including 17 artists who are survivors of gun violence. The art gallery, which opened on June 1, will be located on the Easthampton City Arts website at www.easthamptoncityarts/wearorange through Sept. 30. The Ethnic Study CoWork Café and Bookstore in Springfield will host a slide show of the virtual exhibit on June 12 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition to the virtual gallery, a window display on 40 Cottage St. in Easthampton will feature selected work from the virtual exhibit from June 1 to June 30.

According to Rina Schneur, a volunteer leader with the state’s chapter of Moms Demand Action, “Wear Orange” is an annual event that started a few years ago to observe gun violence nationwide after Hadiya Pendleton’s friends wore orange in her honor when she was shot and killed in Chicago at 15 years old. From June 4 to 6, which are the usual dates for the Wear Orange national observance, the tower of Old Town Hall at 43 Main St. in Easthampton and the Holyoke City Hall will be lit orange.

On top of that, this exhibit and others as well as commentary from politicians and community partners will be shown on the statewide Wear Orange website at www.wearorangesummerjam.com starting at noon on June 5.

Doris Madsen, an Easthampton artist and Moms Demand Action volunteer for Western Massachusetts, curated this Easthampton exhibit with the help of Easthampton City Arts.

“I wanted to do a virtual art exhibit on gun violence,” said Madsen, who added that she applied for local cultural grants to help make it happen. “When I was trying to find a partner and collaborator, I talked to Moms [Demand Action]. They loved the idea.”

The organization’s main goal for 2021 was to make the Wear Orange event about art showing resilience, healing and honor. “We’ve been planning this since January,” said Madsen.

To find artists who would be willing to collaborate on this, Madsen told Reminder Publishing that she used call outs through press releases and reached out to individuals and groups that she personally found through Instagram and the gun violence prevention movement.

Most of the artists featured in the exhibit are from Massachusetts.

“I really wanted [gun violence] survivors,” said Madsen, when speaking on what kinds of artists she was looking for. “That really came through…people were incredible sharing their thoughts and ideas. It’s been quite a personal experience.”

Madsen credits Easthampton City Arts for bringing a lot of relevance to the lives of artists, especially throughout the course of the pandemic. “This is a grassroots project, and I’m really proud of it,” said Madsen. “Every artist has made a statement, and it’s amazing.”

Moms Demand Action began after the Sandy Hook shooting, when founder of the organization Shannon Watts took a stand and created a Facebook post denouncing gun violence. Since then, the organization has over 6 million supporters. There is a chapter of Moms Demand Action in every state, as well as local groups within each state.

During the pandemic, a lot of the organization’s action moved statewide but a couple of groups remained locally active. According to Schneur, the Western Mass. group Madsen volunteers for is considered one of the most active in the state.

Public awareness, legislation, and budget items that help with intervention are some of the many ways in which the organization deals with the gun violence problem. They also work with local community partners like Mother Overlooked Reaching Out Empowerment (MORE) to help with intervention and public awareness. People will be able to donate to help with the cause once the Wear Orange website goes live on June 5.

“During Wear Orange, the art actually engaged our community partners because they had art nights,” said Schneur. “Everyone can engage with art.”

According to Schneur, Moms Demand Action and the gun violence prevention movement has seen “tremendous success.” Red flag laws for example, which help to prevent all forms of gun violence, have been passed in seven states plus Washington D.C. thanks to grassroots movements like Moms Demand Action.

“We have that grassroots movement, and the larger that movement is the more voice we have,” said Schneur. The next step is engaging with lawmakers and policy makers to continue the movement. It sometimes seems slow, but it’s moving.”

Schneur and Madsen hope that people will become activists for gun violence prevention after the exhibit.

Despite having one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the country, Schneur said that Massachusetts still needs to pass permanent legislation to help curb the issue, especially with regard to ghost guns, which are homemade firearms that are untraceable and lack commercial serial numbers.

“We need to make sure our neighbors nationwide have sensible gun laws,” said Schneur. “Massachusetts is one of the best in legislation, but there is still a lot of work to do in Massachusetts and beyond.”

Aside from the exhibit and light-up orange event, a Wear Orange Vigil will be conducted at Greenfield Town Common on June 4 from 12 to 1 p.m. A community stand out with MORE will occur at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield on June 4 at 4 p.m.

Also, on June 5 from 2 to 6 p.m., activities for youth will be available at Magazine Park in Springfield to benefit More 4 Youth.