Exhibit gives voices to survivors of heinous crime

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat Tucson photographer Amy Zuckerman stands in front of a photograph from her exhibit and book, "Point of Fracture: Voices of Heinous Crime Survivors," in the Tucson Museum of Art. The exhibit starts today and will run through June 21.

After speaking to the family members of the murder victim, 25-year-old Hector Juarez, she was convinced there was a voice to be heard that the newspapers had ignored.

"It was at that point I realized it could happen to any of us," Zuckerman said.

Zuckerman's multimedia exhibit at the Tucson Museum of Art, titled "Point of Fracture: Voices of Heinous Crime Survivors," is intended to provide an arena for that voice, from the perspective of the people most affected - the surviving family members.

The exhibit, which opens today and lasts through June 21, includes black-and-white photographs mounted in a blackened room on the basement level of the museum.

Accompanying the images of family members and actual crime scenes are interview audio clips, of the surviving family members of crime victims, conducted by Zuckerman and writer Karen Nystedt.

Zuckerman said the voice-overs allow viewers to conjure up their own reaction to the image instead of relying on such a literal interpretation as explained in her new book, which shares the same title as the exhibit.

The book, co-written by Nystedt, and the exhibit were made possible by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 1994 and co-sponsored by the local chapter of the Parents of Murdered Children.

Parents of Murdered Children coordinated the interviews with the families of murder victims for Zuckerman and Nystedt.

Nystedt had a brother who was killed in the late 1980s, which she said gave her the inspiration that she could draw upon to bring to the project and also made it easier for the families she interviewed to talk to her.

"Even though it was emotional - we asked these people to revisit the worst moments of their lives - it was still the most inspirational part of the work," Nystedt said. "I was awestruck that they would tell their stories to complete strangers. They really pour out their souls to you."

Gail Leland, director and founder of Parents of Murdered Children, said the project is part of the 20th-annual National Crime Victims' Week, which will end tomorrow with a candlelight vigil at Children's Memorial Park, 4851 N. 15th Ave.

Leland founded the organization after the death of her son, Richard, in 1981, and the week is intended to be a national recognition for crime victims' rights and needs.

Leland is an advocate of a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would provide more protection and rights for the victims of violent crime.

Leland said she believes much attention has been given to the defendants' costs, such as the amount to house them in prison and to have them on death row.

"No one ever talks about the direct cost to victims. People who are the victims of crimes just don't get up the next day for work like nothing happened," Leland said, adding that many families cannot even afford to have a proper burial.

"We shouldn't have to have car washes to raise funds," she said.