Highland Park, IL | Proposed in 2025
On July 4, 2022, a gunman opened fire during an Independence Day parade in the city of Highland Park, IL, located about 25 miles north of Chicago. Seven people were killed, and 48 others were injured in this senseless act of violence.
After a dedicated trauma-informed planning process and public engagement program, the city of Highland Park issued a nationwide Call to Artists to commission an artist-led multidisciplinary design team to create a meaningful and lasting place of remembrance to honor the victims of the shooting and pay tribute to the community’s resilient spirit. As part of the planning process, the community identified the themes of reflection, remembrance and solace as the central values of the memorial.
Throughout his career as an artist, Gordon has collaborated with many communities across the country, developing memorials and monuments to traumatic events and sensitive topics. This experience has led to his reputation as an empathetic listener. His ability to respond to the needs of each community with the appropriate sensitivity, care and understanding has led to his success in creating memorials that contribute meaningfully to their site and community and to the memory of those lost far too soon.
In their Request for Proposals, the city of Highland Park identified two memorial locations – Port Clinton Square, a location close to the site of the shooting, and the Laurel Park Rose Garden, a central location adjacent to City Hall. Gordon partnered with renowned landscape architects EDSA to design four memorial concepts that demonstrate a meaningful purpose – bringing people together through their shared values and resilient spirit and encouraging visitors to gather, reflect, remember and participate in a communal healing process.
The Embrace was designed to be reminiscent of the shape of a giant hug, the sculpture sweeping around to hold the viewer in a loving embrace. The outer circular form, which echoes the design of the Rose Garden, is rendered in weathering steel and features a continuous bench mounted along the interior surface of the structure. At the center of the installation sits a reflection pond with a mirror-flat surface showing the viewer a reflection of the sky and their own presence within the memorial and the community at large. Plaques for each victim and a poem by Highland Park’s poet laureate, Laura Joyce-Hubbard, would be mounted to the interior of The Embrace.
The Inspiration is reminiscent of the open-air temples of old, when communities would gather together in shared sacred spaces. Seven arches of Corten steel, representing the seven victims, reach towards the installation’s center, forming the support structure for a multicolored dichroic glass oculus. The oculus represents the concept of eternity – no beginning and no end – and the ever-turning circle of life. The memorial also features a reflecting pond at its center with stainless-steel plaques bearing the name of each victim. A ring of seven benches forms the outer edge of the memorial.
The Candles draws its inspiration from the practice of memorial candles, a universal and meaningful way of commemorating lost loved ones. The concept features a single, elegant obelisk of Corten steel rising from a stone base, which transforms into a translucent glass beacon of light in the evening. This time-honored theme of a guiding light – be it for the living or the departed – is rich with metaphor, shining brightly to lead the way forward, or as a source of hope and comfort in difficult times.
The Lantern is comprised of seven elegantly shaped steel “petals” each laser-cut with organic, abstracted patterns and powder-coated in brilliant white. The petals are situated in a mid-bloom shape, full of the promise of imminent potential, reminding the viewer that even in the most difficult of times beauty lies just over the horizon. Each petal is backlit, emitting a soft aura during the day and glowing like a lantern in the evening.
