PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — It’s been almost one year since a man killed 2 and injured another on a MAX train and artists are starting work on a tribute to the victims.
The wall will honor Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, who both died, and Micah Fletcher who was seriously injured after Jeremy Christian’s alleged anti-Muslin tirade on May 26, 2017.
After the attack, Portlanders transformed the wall into an unofficial memorial with messages of love and unity. Artists will incorporate some of what was temporarily there in the permanent tribute wall.
Before the tribute at the Hollywood Transit Station can come to life, artists are preparing the cement to be bathed in color.
“Each section of the wall will represent the growth cycle of the western Peonie, which is A beautiful flower that grow in the Ochoco mountains here in Oregon,” artist Sarah Farahat said.
Farahat was commissioned by TriMet to lead the team of artists creating the tribute.
She spoke to the victim’s families to get their input on what to include.
“Starting at the top, there will be some of the last words of Taliesin: ‘Tell everyone on the train that I love them.'”
The wall will also feature a poem translated into 8 languages that will go across the wall like a flower vine.
“The amount of effort that TriMet and she has put into it is mind blowing and it’s amazing to see something of this size come to fruition,” artists Jamaali Roberts said.
