The Story.

Hi, my name is Lorie Lewis. I’m an arts manager/marketer from Milford CT. I love all types of artists and everything related to the Arts. I’ve been immersed in the Arts in one way or another my entire life. After the Uvalde shooting (how many mass shootings ago was that?) I lost it. Like punching pillows, screaming, crying lost it. A total breaking point. On the other end of my melt down, I took a deep breath. In an odd instantaneous moment, I felt inspired to contact David Hogg, the Parkland survivor and gun policy advocate of March For Our Lives. So I did. He answered.

I told David that I wanted to use the power of the arts to help end gun violence and inspire peace. He put me in touch with Gracie Lee Pekrul of Artists 4 Peace and our journey began.

I proposed the idea for my initiative to Grace and we immediately started building a team of artists, activists, graphic designers, and marketers* who would prepare and plan for the launch of the Wings4Peace initiative. It seemed like the perfect inaugural art project.

*Special thanks to Darcy Hicks, Peter Propp, Paul Livornese, and Erin Whitten

This project was successfully completed with hundreds of citizens across the country sharing their message of peace through art. Shortly after, a second project called SNAPSHOT emerged when Jane Davila, Executive Director of Metro Art Studios in Bridgeport CT, contacted us to create a new initiative for their exhibition, “In Our Hands: Gun Culture in America.”

Soon after this project ended, another opportunity was presented by Dodie Pettit, a Broadway star who wished to produce a broadway revue to benefit Sandy Hook Promise. The Best of Broadway raised tens of thousands of dollars for SHP in one evening on September 22, 2024.

The opportunities keep coming. And the causes keep growing. We are not stopping at the gun violence epidemic.

We believe in the power of the arts and creativity to heal, connect, bridge divides, inspire, and move people to action. Art movements work. Throughout history, public art has both reflected and instigated change.

That’s why we ultimately decided to expand the power of the Arts into other social issues.

We believe that the Arts ARE the Solution.

Maybe you found us because you believe this too. Maybe you need a way to turn your anger and despair into action. Maybe you want to be seen and heard. Maybe you want to be part of a community who gets it… gets you… gets going.

Let’s build that community together. Let’s do everything we can to put the Arts at the center of every social issue.

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Please share with everyone you know. We need everyone’s voice.

We just need everyone.