Images of hope to replace tarps at Tree of Life site

Artwork expressing love, hope and healing will replace blue construction tarps surrounding Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue where a gunman killed 11 worshippers last year, officials said.

The building, which housed the congregations of Tree of Life or L’Simcha, New Light and Dor Hadash, remains surrounded by a chain-link fence and the tarps.

A beautification project, “#HeartsTogether: The Art of Rebuilding,” aims to replace the stark tarps with images of resilience and thanks.

“We want to say thank you by transforming this temporary condition into a thing of beauty and reflecting back to our neighbors, the city and the world all the strength and positivity which we received from them in our darkest hours,” said Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg, a board member for the congregation Tree of Life or L’Simcha.

The congregations ask for children aged 13 to 17 from anywhere in the world to submit original art, which will be printed on a windscreen to cover the fence at the synagogue. While some images might not make it onto the windscreen, officials said, all will be shown in an online gallery. Submissions can be made through May 31 at www.tolols.org/heartstogether

The synagogue on Squirrel Hill’s Wilkins Avenue has been vacant since Oct. 27, when a gunman armed with an AR-15 and multiple handguns opened fire on Shabbat services. Robert Bowers is awaiting trial on federal hate crime charges for the massacre.

“We regret that our site appears vacant and unkempt in the midst of this wonderful neighborhood that showed us so much love,” Eisenberg said.

The fate of the synagogue remains undecided.

“Until we can return to our home inside the Tree of Life building, we want the site to reflect the beauty and love that people throughout the world have shown us,” said Stephen Cohen, the co-president of New Light. “With our hearts together we want to visually express our thanks to all.”

Dor Hadash past-President Ellen Surloff called the project a way to beautify the site of a “senseless tragedy.“

“We eagerly await the submissions,” she said, “Every one of which will be a welcome and cherished reminder of support from around the world.”