Local Artist Responds to Newtown Shooting, Sends Snowflakes for Sandy Hook Students

When artist Les Barker learned the Connecticut PTSA sent out an appeal for snowflakes to decorate the school building where Sandy Hook students will resume classes, after , he created a custom snowflake design for the school to memorialize the victims.

Barker works as a web designer at Wheaton College. He is also an artist who designs and cuts intricate six-sided paper snowflakes based on various themes—and often by commission—using using a method for folding the paper that he learned during the 18 years he lived in Japan.

The design he sent to Connecticut incorporates the first initials of the 26 students and teachers who were killed, along with a remembrance ribbon. He framed the snowflake and mailed it to Connecticut the day after Christmas. When he went to his local UPS store to mail it, the employee told him that he was the second person to come in that day with snowflakes to mail to Newtown, according to a message from Wheaton College.

Let Patch save you time. Get stories delivered to your inbox—sign up for our email newsletter. Fast signup here. You can also like us on Facebook.

“My first response was to think about the kids who are going back to school in a different building—making a whole transition that is hard for anybody. Helping to create a warm, receptive environment by surrounding them with beautiful things would help them feel, ‘people care about us,’" Barker said in a statement. "I wanted to do something that could be a way to make their return to school something hopeful, and maybe therapeutic.”

He said he'd love for the artwork to be displayed somewhere students can see their classmates' initials or a teacher's name in a way that is meaningful or helpful to them. 

“Making art has become a way for me to respond to these situations—it’s become a way for me to process my emotions. For me, this piece was a way to honor those who were victimized, and to help the community in the process of acknowledging what happened and moving forward," he said.

Information courtesy of Wheaton College.

Related:

• Wheaton North Cheerleaders Help Sandy Hook