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Art Installation At GVSU To Draw Attention To Violence Against Women

An art installation at Grand Valley State University will draw attention to violence against women.  It’s the “Red Shoe Project” and it allows the community to submit a pair of red shoes with a message in honor of a victim. The event is being held this Saturday from 11am to 6pm in the DeVos Center Courtyard on the Pew Campus Downtown.

“Each pair of shoes is a symbol of a woman who was killed or was trafficked."

Zulema Moret is a professor of Spanish at Grand Valley State University.  She’s in charge of the upcoming art installation to be held at GVSU”s Pew Campus, in the DeVos Center courtyard on Saturday.  It’s the Red Shoe Project or Zapatos Rojos.  An ongoing project, involving the painting of more than 300 pairs of shoes.  She says the project was created for a course she is teaching, Art and Society in Latin America.

“How art is able to transform and make aware people about different type of conflict. We are studying in the history of Latin American, different cases.”

The conflict  of course, is violence against women.  Mexican artist Elina Chauvet, whose first Red Shoe installation was in 2009 in Juarez, Mexico, will be on hand.  Zulema says the “Red Shoe Project” is meant to heal.

“Each week, we have people painting shoes. and the experience of paiting together, talking sharing, is a healing experience for the people. We are healing pain.”

Zulema says artist Elina Chauvet has multliple symbolic meanings stemming from the red shoes.

“First, is s symbol of femininity. Of women. Of a woman who is alive. The second symbol is the blood of death."

In collaboration with the installation, two panel discussions about violence against women are planned for October 23rd and 24th.  Artist Chauvet will appear at both events.  You can find more information on line at gvsu.edu/mll.

Jennifer is an award winning broadcast news journalist with more than two decades of professional television news experience including the nation's fifth largest news market. She's worked as both news reporter and news anchor for television and radio in markets from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo all the way to San Francisco, California.