About Eastside Community Center

Eastside Community Center opened in 2018. It’s a state-of-the-art, award-winning facility featuring an indoor pool, gymnasium, indoor walking track, fitness areas, recording studio, social hall, teaching kitchen, and is home to the Eastside Boys & Girls Club. The center is heavily used and was sorely needed. After years of limited facilities in this area of Tacoma and countless young people lost to gun violence, a grassroots effort to build the center was ignited. The idea came from young people, and it was heard by their Eastside neighbors, policymakers, and funders. Eastside Community Center is a safe place young people can grow. It started as a dream, and became a reality, thanks to the community stepping up and demanding better.

The artwork approach at Eastside Community Center was guided by community engagement and art planning by Tacoma artists Christopher Paul Jordan and Kenji Stoll. After talking to Eastside neighbors, one of the artworks they proposed was a Youth Memorial: a piece of creative work that brings the story and creation of the facility full circle by acknowledging the loss of young people in the community. The piece was not meant to be a predictable memorial. Rather, it was meant to invite reflection and honor the resilience and initiative of young people stepping forward to support and inspire those around them. The project was made available to a cohort of 12 artists with connections to the Eastside who went through a public art training program, designed to give opportunities to talented local artists. Dionne Bonner was selected for the project. Her work was guided by a panel made up of Eastside community members, and informed by conversations with members of the public and interviews with family members of young people lost to gun violence.

In Loving Memory

Dionne Bonner
2020
Latex Paint and Acrylic
ECC-004-2018
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma

Violence against our youth is devastating. In Loving Memory is a memorial dedicated to all the young people from the Eastside of Tacoma who have lost their lives to gun violence. This painted wall mural reflects the creativity, resilience, and strength young people have within them, even when facing adversity.

In the design, we see images of young people in vibrant colors that represent the youth of today, while the shadows remind us to never forget those lives lost to violence. Energy radiates in different directions throughout the mural proclaiming a bright future for the young people that gather at this community center today.

The mural depicts the devastation violence has on a community and the vibrant connections that help cultivate a place of refuge. From a neighbor’s front porch to a graduation ceremony, the watchful and dedicated people of the Eastside surround each other. This openness makes memories people never forget and fuels this unique community’s growth and resiliency over time and into the future.

Remembering our young people

To add a name to the online memorial, click the button below. Names will go on the mural’s webpage and on a screen next to the mural. The published list will be updated approximately every 90 days.

Submissions are made on the honor system by community members. While we welcome all names, we ask that submissions are made with the permission of family or next of kin, and please submit legal names. This memorial is meant to honor young people who have been lost to gun violence on Tacoma’s Eastside. However, we also understand that the loss of our young people is not limited by neighborhood or circumstance of passing.

This project is dedicated to the memory of:

Click on an image to view it larger.