• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Kokomo Indiana University Kokomo IU Kokomo

Open Search
  • Artwork sends emotional message on school shootings
  • IU Kokomo Newsroom
  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
  • July
  • June
  • May
  • April
  • March
  • February
  • January
  • 2023
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2022
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2021
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • Red Chair
  • Home
  • 2023
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2022
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2021
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • Search
  • Red Chair

IU Kokomo Newsroom

  • Home
  • 2018
  • August
  • Artwork sends emotional message on school shootings

Artwork sends emotional message on school shootings

Thursday, August 30, 2018

KOKOMO, Ind. — One black Sharpie. 252 schools. Unlimited emotions.

A school desk-turned art piece memorializes the students, families, teachers, and communities devastated by school shootings across the country for the past 19 years.

>

Along with the names of each school affected since Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, a message is carved into the center of the desk – a statement the artist wants onlookers to take away after viewing the display.

Enough.

I want to evoke a little heartache, and awareness,” said Mike Applegate, an Indiana University Kokomo adjunct instructor and Peru High School art teacher. The point is, these are kids getting shot in their schools.

The Sharpie rests on the desk, pointed at the name Noblesville West Middle School, site of the last school shooting in the United States. It probably won’t stay there, he said grimly.

The average is, I will write nine more names this year,” he said.

After the May 25 shootings at Noblesville, Applegate began making a list of all school shootings since Columbine.

When I first started, I was just writing down names,” he said. “Then an hour went by, and I was still writing. I had two pages, and I kept on writing. It breaks you down when you get to Noblesville, and as you write it down, you think, ‘This is way too close to home.’”

A book nearby lists the shootings by state, along with the number of deaths at each one. Applegate surrounded the desk with 4,000 shell casings, along with crime scene tape.

He vividly recalls the shootings at Noblesville, both because he has a friend who teaches there, and because one of his own students’ reaction — or lack thereof.

Applegate watched this horrific event unfold on the news and via social media. He was in touch with a friend whose daughter was in the classroom where a student shot a classmate and a teacher.

It was one of those things that get to you,” he said. “She had 29 students in her class she was in charge of, they were on lockdown, and she was getting a phone call from her daughter, screaming about somebody shooting the class. I told my class, and they were like, ‘It’s just another school shooting, Mr. Applegate.’”

At that moment, he knew he needed to do something.

School shootings have become so commonplace, our students are becoming complacent, people are becoming complacent,” he said. “I started thinking about how I was going to represent the point I wanted to get across. What could I do as an artist to really get the word out, to make people aware this is going on?”

After he completed the work, he made a video of it to show family in Kansas. They shared it, and within a few days, it had more than 19,000 views. It is now being considered for exhibition at an art museum in Chicago.

I wasn’t expecting this,” he said. “It was something for me to get it off my chest and out of my head. As long as we’re getting the word out, that’s my goal.”

He emphasizes he’s not making an anti-gun statement.

We need to have something that inspires people to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Applegate said. “That’s what art is supposed to do. Sometimes it’s just pretty, and sometimes it makes a social statement.”

The installation piece debuted this month in the Art Gallery on campus, as part of the faculty exhibition, which continues through Friday, September 7.

It also will be displayed October 9 in Havens Auditorium during a presentation by Scarlett Lewis, founder of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation. The foundation honors her son, a first grader who was among 26 students and teachers killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Her 6:30 p.m. appearance is in partnership with Four County Counseling Center. Tickets will be available starting Monday, September 10 at the Office of Student Life and Campus Diversity, along with all branches of the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library.

The Gallery is free and open to the public, with free parking on campus. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and closed Sundays and Fridays.

View more photos of Mike Applegate's artwork.

Description of the video:

Music begins as we see shell casings on a wooden floor. The IU Kokomo tab appears in the upper left-hand corner. We see a bit of police tape outlining the shells and metal legs sitting within the shell casings.

The voice of Mike Applegate, IU Kokomo Adjunct Instructor, New Media, Art, and Technology is heard as a voiceover: “Well, it’s a piece I wanted to try to convey a message of how complacent students have gotten and society, in general, have gotten towards school shootings.”

We see school names written in black Sharpie on a surface. The ones we can read include Hamilton High School, North High School, and Edison High School. As the camera pans over the names, we begin to piece together that the surface is a school desk surrounded by the shell casings. The police tape outlines the entire piece. The Sharpie is scrawled on the entirety of the desk including the seat and legs with names of schools.

Mike Applegate continues speaking to the camera from the IU Kokomo Art Gallery, his art installation seen behind him: “And, um, I tried to convey that through, you know, making it obvious without making it an anti-gun thing. Because I’ve got a lot of friends that are part of the NRA and their big thing is, ‘Is this gonna be anti-gun?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t want it to be anti-gun, I want it to bring out the awareness of school shootings.’”

As the camera continues to pan over the names of high schools, we can see an open black Sharpie pointing to Noblesville West Middle School.

Mike Applegate continues: “I had a friend of mine, she’s an English teacher at Noblesville High School, and when we heard about the school shooting, I contacted her via Facebook and I asked her, ‘Hey, is everything alright? I know you’re in Noblesville.’ And I found out her daughter was in the classroom of the shooting. And so, um, yeah. And from that point, I get a little choked up on it ‘cause it’s just, you know, one of those things that just gets to you. She said, ‘Do you know how hard it is to be a teacher and you’re sitting there in a classroom when you’re in charge and they’re in lockdown?’ So Noblesville High School’s in lockdown so they had to… She had 29 students in her classroom that she’s in charge of to, you know, make sure they’re safe. And, she’s getting a phone call from her daughter screaming about someone shooting up the class.”

The camera pans over the piles of shell casings. We see the entire top of the desk and we can see that the word, ‘ENOUGH’ has been scratched into the surface of the desk.

School names are also written on the metal legs of the desk. We see the name Pearl High School written in black Sharpie on one leg. We see the piles of shell casings next to the yellow crime scene tape that reads, “Police Line Do Not Cross.” We see another leg that reads, “Dillard High School.”

Mike Applegate continues speaking: “Art is…sometimes, it’s just pretty. You know? And sometimes, it’s going to make a social statement. The point is, these are little kids that are getting shot in schools. And we need to do more for school safety. We need to get, you know, the awareness out there. We need to do more.”

The camera pans over and zooms in on the word ENOUGH scratched into the desk.

The music begins to fade out at the screen goes black.

The camera shows Mike Applegate sitting behind his art installation. The screen reads as follows:

“Enough” is on display through September 7 as part of the Faculty Art Show at the IU Kokomo Art Gallery. For more information, visit iuk.edu/gallery.

Scarlett Lewis, mother of Jesse Lewis, victim of the Sandy Hook shooting, will be speaking in Havens Auditorium, October 9, 2018.

“Enough” will be on display in the lobby. For more information, visit iuk.edu/ChooseLove.

 Indiana University Kokomo

Fulfilling the Promise

Iuk.edu 

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
  • July
  • June
  • May
  • April
  • March
  • February
  • January

IU Kokomo Newsroom social media channels

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Flickr
  • Snapchat

Contact, Address, and Additional Links

Email

  • Gmail at IU
  • Outlook Web Access

Resources

  • Library
  • Federally Required Disclosures
  • Information Privacy Policy

Info

  • IU COVID-19 Updates
  • COVID-19 info from CDC
  • 15 to Finish
  • Non-Discrimination Notice

Find

  • Majors and Degrees
  • Directory
  • IT Knowledge Base
  • Campus Map

Tools

  • Academic Calendars
  • IT Services (UITS)
  • IUware
  • Report an Accessibility Concern

Indiana University Kokomo

765-453-2000
2300 S. Washington St.
Kokomo, IN 46902-9003

Indiana University

Accessibility | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2023 The Trustees of Indiana University