The city’s fourth-annual somber remembrance of the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy will include the dedication of a new sculpture at the memorial site in Grede Park.
As in past years, the presentation will begin at precisely 4:39 p.m. Nov. 21, marking the moment Darrell Brooks Jr. drove an SUV through the parade route in downtown Waukesha, resulting in the death of six people and injuries to more than 60 others.
Renowned artist Carmen De La Paz, who will speak at the event, will present her memorial accessory sculpture, called “Holding Love,” which will sit adjacent to the larger original sculpture that was commissioned and dedicated in 2024. The new sculpture, depicting two cupped hands holding a heart, delivers a message that complements the heart-shaped six-strand sculpture at the center of the memorial, near 538 Riverwalk Drive.
“For me it’s another element to the healing process for Waukesha,” De La Paz said in a texted statement Nov. 12. “With a tragedy such as this, if we can hold love in the memory of those lost and the painful impact the community, as a whole, has experienced, perhaps we can find peace. Nothing erases the pain but, somehow we must hold love.”
De La Paz, born in Puerto Rico but raised in Waukesha, is a nationally-known artist who has appeared on television programs; she’s currently working to complete the hands-shaped sculpture in time for the dedication.
This year’s speakers will also include Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly and Liz Schmidt of the United for Waukesha Resiliency Center.
The memorial is located at the park off St. Paul Avenue near its intersection with Wisconsin Avenue and North Street. For the event, motorists should enter Riverwalk Drive from Wisconsin Avenue and park along the drive.
Brooks, who was found guilty in October 2022 on 76 criminal counts (including six for intentional homicide), remains incarcerated in the South Dakota State Penitentiary. He is still pondering an appeal of his conviction and life sentence.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy memorial features new Carmen De La Paz sculpture
Reporting by Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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