Decorah UCC display shows severity of COVID-19 and aims to start conversations

A new outdoor display at the Decorah Congregational United Church of Christ, located at 209 W Broadway Street, aims to memorialize Iowan lives lost to COVID-19 and start conversations about the virus' impact.

Decorah UCC's Rev. Seth Robinson states, "This COVID-19 memorial installation is the fruit of a collaboration between folks at Decorah Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) and local artist Carl Homstad. Since May, a small group of us at the church have been wondering: How might we mark the singularity and preciousness of every person who has died and is dying of COVID-19, say, in all of Iowa? We are deeply grateful to Carl, whose creative energy and deft design have honored our longing for a vehicle for collective mourning."

Homstad, who has many murals around Decorah and over 45 murals around the state, has a background in theatrical design. After being approached by church members Randi Berg and Norma Jean Bosma, he used these skills to come up with the display idea for UCC.  The result is a 8' x 8' panel with 1,030 drilled holes that, when lighted from the back, shine as stars for each Iowan killed by the virus as of Aug. 22.

"Sometimes numbers get so large that it's hard to comprehend it," says Homstad.  He went on to say, "It's difficult to show something so big that is also constantly changing. We would now need 177 panels to show the total number of deaths in the US."

The initial work on the display took about a day for Homstad to paint the skyline and background and to drill the first 300 holes. Members of the UCC congregation helped finish the display and will add more "stars" as the number of deaths in Iowa continue to rise.

Pictures of the display have already reached over 15,000 people and have been shared over 700 times through social media. Rev. Robinson says, "We hope that this installation might serve as a springboard for conversation, both within our congregation and in our wider community. What does it look like in this moment to grieve together? To practice compassion? To open ourselves to healing and even transformation? We look forward to living these questions with you, our neighbors and friends."

Rev. Robinson hopes the conversations started by the display can help the community as it experiences the loss of lives and the grief of losing a sense of normal.  He says, "We recognize that the depth and scale of the ongoing losses we are experiencing can make it hard to express our grief. This installation, with its proliferating points of light, invites us to reflect on the impact that COVID-19 has had and is having on our lives—from the death of loved ones and the loss of familiar rhythms to the isolation that we (and especially our elders) face and the strain on our school and healthcare workers."

Photo courtsey of Carl Homstad's Facebook page