The REQUIEM Project

Ongoing

The REQUIEM Project was developed in 2020 as a way to understand the staggering loss of life due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Once circle represents one person who died from the virus. By drawing golden circles, we recognize a person shines brightly long after they die while meditating on the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Together we create something beautiful and radiant from this horrible time.

The REQUIEM Project makes it possible to visualize the incredibly large numbers of people who died from COVID 19. This gives a tangible understanding of the magnatude of the pandemic that abstract numbers alone cannot. As numbers also cannot portray an individual person, the names of loved ones who died are written on the drawings remembering and symbolically honoring each life arc. The circles are drawn and names are written during Compassion Drawing events.

Compassion Drawing Events

Compassion Drawing events are hosted by an individual, organization, school, spiritual center, business or really anywhere there is a need or desire to receive support and contribute to the memorial. During a Compassion Drawing event, participants draw golden circles. A circle is a symbol of eternity and rebirth and one circle is drawn for each person who has died from COVID-19. Multiple people draw circles on the prepared paper resulting in rich tapestries that inherently celebrate diversity. The illuminating qualities of gold remind us that we all glitter brightly and can offer light beyond our physical lifespan. The names of the dead are written on individual golden circles further adding to the richness and complexity of the drawings.

Drawing circles and writing names is quiet, meditative and soothing, literally marking an individual existence. Each person’s drawn  circles are unique, like a fingerprint. Multiple people work on the 50 x 72″ drawings creating rich tapestries expressing the collective and diverse nature of The REQUIEM Project. Coming together to draw also offers us all one way to process the collective trauma we experienced during the pandemic and process the grief caused by this time. One does not need to experience a death in the family circle to have been affected by all the death and challenges during the pandemic. Coming together during the Compassion Drawing events allow us to pause, grieve, tell stories and reflect on the beautiful fragility of life.

Understanding the challenge of learning all 6 million plus names from the world over, many circles will remain without names while symbolically representing the individual. When the drawings are exhibited, viewers are invited to contribute to the memorial by writing the names of their loved ones on the drawings. Collaboratively and over time, we complete the project together.

If you would like to host a Compassion Drawing event in your community or would like to exhibit the drawings, please reach out to Tina at [email protected].

August 24, 2024 Catharine Clark Gallery/BOXBLUR, San Francisco, CA

May 10-12, 2024 Ratna Ling Retreat Center, Cazadero, CA

May 4, 2024   Enso Village, Healdsburg, CA

November 1, 2023   University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ

March 6, 2023   Arizona Heritage Center, Tempe, AZ with Marked by COVID

October 28, 2022   Muslim Community Center, Pleasanton, CA

September 17, 2022   Walnut Creek Islamic Center, CA

April 24, 2022   Antioch Baptist Church, Brooklyn, NY

April  22-23, 2022   Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, NY

April 13, 2022   First Presbyterian Church, San Rafael, CA

January 9, 2022   Westminster Presbyterian, Tiburon, CA

November 15, 2021   92nd Street Y, New York City, NY

September 28, 2021   St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA

September 3 – 5, 2021   Ratna Ling Retreat Center, Cazadero, CA

August 5, 2021   Grace Cathedral, San Francisco CA

June 24, 2021     RagaYoga Studio, Walnut Creek, CA

The REQUIEM Project Prayer Malas

Accompanying the drawings are 12 prayer malas or necklaces. Each necklace has 9 beads totalling 108 when all together. Many spiritual traditions utilize prayer necklaces with 108 beads for devotional prayer, mantra and meditation. 108 is a significant number and has multiple meanings depending on the spiritual practice including the wholeness of existence and the basis of all creation. 108 beads are divided so that 12 people must wear the individual necklaces to create a collective circle together. After the necessary separations of the pandemic, we have a somatic awareness of the importance of being together, working together, being part of something larger than ourselves.

Each of the ebonized lime wood beads are constructed from combinations of the circle and the square, elemental geometry and sacred architecture woven into the fabric of all creation creating harmony within and amplifying our spirits. The circle represents the divine life force and is a symbol of vitality, wholeness, and perfection. The square is the symbol of physical matter and stability. Along with the wood beads are clear quartz beads. Quartz is believed to have the highest vibration of all stones able to offset any negative energy and is often referred to as the “master healer.” The quartz ovoids represent fertility, rebirth, even immortality and symbolize the complete circle of life and death, of sacred potential and time.

A project of this importance and size is a costly endeavor. Please donate to support The Requiem Project. All donations go to materials, costs associated with the Compassion Drawing events, documentation and exhibitions. If you would like to become an official sponsor of The Requiem Project, please contact Tina at [email protected]. By financially supporting the project, you become part of the project and help make it’s completion possible.

Thomas A. Adamavich
Randy G. Addison
Coby Adolph
Kamal Ahmed
Julia Maye Alexander
Robert Lee Amos
Thomas E. Anglin
Robert Manley Argo Jr.
Marylou Armer
Jennifer Robin Arnold
José Diaz-Ayala
John Bailargeon
Wanda Bailey
Peter Bainum
Bobby Lee Barber
Robert Barghaan
Laneeka Barksdale
Bob Barnum
John Timothy Barr
Elizabeth Batista
Harvey Bayard
Glenn Daniel Belitto
Beryl Bernay
Mark Blum
Herman Boehm
Lorena Borjas
Lucia Bosè
Sean Boynes
Patricia Bosworth
Timothy Branscomb
John E. Broadly
Carole Brookins
Julie Butler
Jeanne Hammond Byrnes
Kevin John Cahill
Herman Cain
Chad Capule
Floyd Cardoz
Marie Caronia
John Cassano
Gerald Cassidy
Ricardo Castaneda
Alberto Castro
Alice Chavdarian
Antonio Checo
Christina
Romi Cohn
Beverly Collins
John Confrancesco
Minette Goff Cooper
Raymond Copeland
Nick Cordero
Jessica Beatriz Cortez
Robert L. Crahen
Regina D. Cullen
Ronald Burdette Culp
Steve Dalkowski
Viraf Darukhanawalla
Allen Daviau
Sandra Lee deBlecourt
Janissa Delacruz
Isabelle De Leon
Joseph J. Deren Jr.
Marty Derer
*Tommy DeVito
Manu Dibango
Allan Joseph Dickson
Joe Diffie
Marco DiFranco
Loretta Mendoza Dionisio
Cedric Dixon
Regina Dix-Parsons
Huguette Dorsey
Martin Douglas
Patirica Dowd
Terrence George Driscoll
David Driskell
Merle C. Dry
Clair Dunlap
April Dunn
Chester Dwulet
Lester Eber
Roger Eckart
Dave Edwards
Alber Elbaz
Audrey Ellis
Theresa Elloie
Alvin Elton
Angel Escamilla
Ronnie Estes
Lila A. Fenwick
Nancy Ferguson
Anita Fial
Lee Fierro
Alan Finder
Lula Fitzpatrick
Vincent G. Frainee
Patricia Frieson
Alice Coopersmith Furst
Frank Gabrin
Robert Garff
Rena Ann George
David Giacalone
Kenneth R. Going
Muriel M. Going
Susan McPherson Gottsegen
Joeph Graham
Fred Walter Gray
Jay Greenfield
Charles Gregory
James T. Goodrich
Rpbert Gutoff
Lucius Hall
John-Sebastian Laird-Hammond
Fredrick Carl Harris
John Hastie
Rhoda Hatch
Donald Raymond
Haws
Harold L. Hayes
Bobby Joseph Hebert
William Helmreich
Louvenia Henderson
Jean-Claude Henrion
Irvin Herman
Douglass Hickok
June Beverly Hill
Gary Holmberg
Norma Hoza
Marguerite M. Horgus
Donald Horsfall
Steven J. Huber
Luis Juarez
Helen Kafkis
Alby Kass
Kious Kelly
Azade Killic
*Larry King
Ann Kolb
Lee Konitz
Andreas Koutsoudakis
Andrew Kowalczyk
Samuel Kramer
Marion Krueger
Marion Lucille Kudja
Cornelius Lawyer
Robert LeBlanc
Lloyd Paul Leftwich
Roger Lehne
Ronald W. Lewis
Eugene Lamar Limbrick
Vincent Lionti
Timothy J. Liszewski
Joe Long
Mark Longo
Trini Lopez
Alan Lund
Antoinette Marie Lutz
Tarlach MacNiallais
Sterling Maddox Jr.
Jesus Roman Malendez
Audry Malone
Jerry Manley
Ellis Marsalis Jr
Kevin Masterson
Sterling E. Matthews
Julian Anguiano-Maya
Scott Melter
Alan Merrill
Mary Virgina McKeon
Michael McKinnell
Christine McLaurin
Terrence McNally
Joseph Migliucci
Michael Mika
Blank N Mild
Charles Miles
Mary Minevini
Harry P. Misthos
Helen Molina
Captain Sir Tom Moore
Gerald Anthony Morales
Florencio Almazo Moràn
Maxwell Mozell
Lilliana Nakamura
John Nakawatase
Howard Alexander Nelson Jr.
Kimarlee Nguyen
Antonio Nieves
Arnold Obey
Freda Ocran
Bassey Offlong
Luiza Ogorodnik
Clark Osojnicki
Richard Passman
Kevin Charles Patz
Albert Pettrocelli
Leroy Perrymon Jr.
Sandy Pratt
Janice Preschel
Ralph Plaisance
Solomon S. Podgursky
*John Prine
Melvin Pumphrey
Sherman Pittman
Angela Piro
Sandra Piotrowski
Bucky Pizzarelli
Jana Prince
Dave Prowse
James Quigley
Angela Raiola
Peggy Rakestraw
Larry Rathgeb
Thomas A. Real
Carl Redd
John Joseph Reed Jr.
Harold Reisner
David Reissig
James Risso-Gill
Walter Robb
Douglas Alan Roberts
Freddy Rodriguez Sr.
Linda Rokus
Susan Rokus
Dez-Ann Romain
Mary Roman
Alberto Romano
Wallace Roney
Gerad Rosenberg
Mark Rubcic
Carl Sue Rubin
Robert Rust
Dick Rutledge
Peter Sakas
Horace Saunders
Robert Earl Schaefer
Adam Schlesinger
*Tom Seaver
Sidney Siegel
Barbara Shelley
Lynn Sierra
Lynn Kellogg Simpers
Sekou Smith
Leo Sreebny
Isreal Suaz
Ann Youngerman Smoler
Noel Sinkiat
Michael Sorkin
Bruce W. Sowalski
Landon Spradlin
Daniel Spector
*Phil Spector
Frederick Brown Starr
Easter Stewart Jr.
JoAnn Stokes-Smith
Maria Linda Villanueva Sun
*Carol Sutton
Kyra Swartz
Patricia H. Thatcher
*Fredrick Thomas
Joseph Micajah Thomas II
Phillip Thomas
Chris Trousdale
Harold L. UpJohn
Rocco Patrick Ursino
George Valentine
Jose Vazquez
Barbara Yazbeck Vethacke
Sandra Santos-Vizcaino

One golden circle for each person who died from COVID-19