Exhibit memorializes murdered youths

The Inspiration, a Penn a cappella group, and a Management 100 group named The Untouchables teamed up last night in Logan Hall for the premier of an art exhibit on campus. The Untouchables brought the exhibit to campus as part of a class project. The exhibit, entitled "Lost Dreams on Canvas," is a collection of portraits memorializing area youths who were, according to event organizers, innocent victims of violence. Two fold-out walls with reproductions of portraits and easels with more paintings were on display in the Terrace Room. Captions accompanying the paintings named the victims and most described how they were killed. Some were hit by stray bullets while others were murdered for their possessions. Some of the victims were not even old enough to be in kindergarten. In addition to the display of artwork, the evening -- which was hosted by The Untouchables -- featured several performances by The Inspiration, speeches by the co-founders of Lost Dreams on Canvas -- Judy Ringold of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Rich Montgomery, coordinator of Veterans Against Drugs -- and a presentation by a pair of mothers, Ann Norwood and Cherie Ryans, whose sons were both murdered in West Philadelphia nine years ago. On the evening of September 2, 1990, Darren Norwood, 19, and Terence Ryans, 18, were killed in a case of mistaken identity. The murder took place near 40th and Walnut streets as the friends were leaving the area following a movie. The two mothers often travel with the exhibit and speak about the death of their sons at area schools and universities. Ryans stressed the importance of awareness to the audience. "We live in a society where all kinds of things happen and you have to be aware of everybody," she said. Though the event was well-publicized, according to group organizers and Wharton freshmen Weldon Mcmillan, Dan Pomerantz and Mehdi El Hajoui, the audience was small. About 30 people gathered in the Terrace Room for the event, including the 11 members of the Management group and the 13 singers in The Inspiration. "Quality is better than quantity," he said, though he and the group did admit disappointment at the small showing. "Lost Dreams on Canvas" started in 1993 as a partnership between Veterans Against Drugs and the Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Montgomery, who is head of anti-drug efforts at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry -- which co-sponsors the exhibit -- contacted Ringold, who asked local artists to paint portraits of murdered children from photographs which Montgomery collected. In addition to presenting the exhibit at Penn, The Untouchables is also designing a World Wide Web page for "Lost Dreams on Canvas" which will feature some of the portraits. The group is attempting to solicit donations from businesses to fund the partnership, and hopes to raise money to purchase a U-Haul attachment for the organization so that it may easily transport the paintings for exhibits. Thus far they have collected 150 portraits.