THE MEMORIAL DOORS PROJECT
Honoring the memory of those lost to
The Opioid Epidemic
ABOUT THE MEMORIAL DOORS
The Memorial Doors Project is a collaboration between the artist and activist Domenic Esposito, the Opioid Spoon Project, and families who have lost a loved one to the opioid epidemic. The Memorial, consisting of eight narrative bronze panels set into a large-scale public sculpture, is meant to be a powerful remembrance of those who have lost their lives in their battle with opioid addiction. The Memorial Doors Project will tell the story, and forever memorialize in bronze, these seemingly unimportant yet treasured moments in a life cut short by an overdose.
THE OPIOID CRISIS
Over a million people have died in the opioid epidemic since Purdue Pharma introduced Oxycontin in 1996. The losses are staggering. In 2021 alone, over 107,000 people died of an overdose in the U.S. In the face of such overwhelming casualties, it becomes easy to discount the tremendous emotional toll of the epidemic, especially to the loved ones left behind. We sometimes forget that behind each number, each overdose, there is a person: a person with a complete life story. They were sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, friends and co-workers.
Our activism led us to meet thousands of families devastated by the opioid crisis. The pain and heartbreak we witnessed during our travels were intense. The memories and stories of their loved one is all they have left. This project is a way to memorialize the lives lost. The everyday stories of growing up, birthday parties, and proms are all part of our memories.
This project is about telling stories.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
DOMENIC ESPOSITO IS A MASSACHUSETTS-BASED ARTIST AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST.
In 2018, he achieved national attention through the massive opioid spoon sculptures, a symbolic eight-hundred-pound, ten-foot metal replication of a simple household utensil modified to cook and inject opioids. Domenic placed them on the doorsteps of major pharmaceutical giants, making a statement on behalf of all those deeply affected by this national epidemic. He founded the Opioid Spoon Project, a 501(c)(3) to serve as a solution-based platform that seeks legal justice and brings voice to the destructive effects of opioid addiction on people from all walks of life.
He is a voice for those that don’t have a voice. Too caught up in a struggle to survive…or barely surviving. His work reflects the forces that haunt our society, community, families, and loved ones.
Domenic’s work has been exhibited in various galleries and art fairs across the U.S., including Beacon Gallery, Boston; Piano Craft Gallery, Boston; Scope, NYC; Art Palm Beach; and SOFA Chicago Art Fair.
SHARE YOUR STORY
We are actively collecting stories from families of loss, and would be delighted if you would like to share a memory of a loved one’s life. If you have lost someone to the opioid crisis, you can submit a memory of your loved one.
Our aim is to collect stories of moments in the lives of those lost which convey a sense of who they were in day to day life before addiction changed everything.
The first STORY COMPLETED
Read more about Jonathan’s story, the inspiration for The Memorial Doors Project.
Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts
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Remembering the forgotten
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Cherishing those we have lost through stories
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Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts ~ Remembering the forgotten ~ Cherishing those we have lost through stories ~
Remembering those lost in the opioid epidemic
Your donations will help tell the story, and forever memorialize in bronze, these seemingly unimportant yet treasured moments in a life cut short by an overdose.