TnT Art Lab announces Living Witness, a winter activation bringing together formative works by Hank Willis Thomas, Bradley McCallum, and Krzysztof Wodiczko. Together these projects reflect TnT Art Lab’s mission to support socially engaged art and foster community dialogue in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

Located at the corner of Turk and Taylor, TnT Art Lab is committed to creating a space where art and community concerns meet. The Tenderloin is a neighborhood shaped by resilience and ongoing challenges. This activation highlights how artists have long used creative practice to confront the impact of gun violence and to honor the people and families affected by it.

Hank Willis Thomas’s Bearing Witness (2000-2008) presents portraits of the family and friends of his cousin, Songha Thomas Willis, who was killed in 2000. The activation also includes documentation of Thomas’s San Francisco public artwork Love Over Rules, (2017) also dedicated to Songha.

Bradley McCallum’s Shroud Mothers’ Voices (1992) brings together the portraits and testimony of mothers in New Haven, Connecticut, whose children were lost to gun violence. Working directly with the mothers, McCallum developed a process grounded in collaboration and the emotional labor of telling these stories. The work creates a shared space where personal loss becomes a collective call for acknowledgment, remembrance and action.

Krzysztof Wodiczko’s Bunker Hill Projection (1998) extends this conversation to Boston’s
Charlestown neighborhood. Wodiczko transformed the Bunker Hill Monument—a historic symbol of revolutionary struggle—into a temporary memorial for families affected by contemporary violence. The work broke through a longstanding silence in the community, turning a monument to past freedom fighters into a platform for those confronting presentday loss.

Across these three projects, the artists use testimony, presence, and public space as their primary materials. They remind viewers that violence extends far beyond a single moment, shaping families and communities for years. Although created decades ago, these works speak directly to the present. Together, they show how art can serve as both memorial and catalyst—holding space for mourning while calling for empathy and sustained engagement.

Throughout the activation, TnT Art Lab will host conversations with local nonprofits working in violence prevention and responsible gun ownership advocacy. These partnerships reflect the Lab’s long-term commitment to supporting community-rooted engagement in the Tenderloin.

By bringing these historic works into dialogue, Bearing Witness / Shroud Mothers’ Voices / Bunker Hill Projection affirms TnT Art Lab’s belief in the power of art to confront harm, honor loss, and bring forward the stories of those who continue to live with the consequences of violence.

TnT Art Lab, a project of Conjunction Arts, believes artists are essential to a thriving and just democracy. Rooted in San Francisco's Tenderloin, TnT positions socially engaged art as a catalyst for civic dialogue, cultural vitality, and social transformation. Through residencies, exhibitions, and public programs, we foster collaboration, amplify underrepresented voices, and invite diverse communities to imagine—and act toward—a more equitable future. At TnT, art meets urgency: where practice becomes participation, and imagination drives change.

Image:

Hank Willis Thomas' public art project located in SF at the Salma Family Building, 165 Jessie Street.