LA Arts’ latest exhibit, “Forget ME Not,” will open to the public Friday at its gallery at 168 Lisbon St. in Lewiston.

From 6-9 p.m. people will have a chance to view the gazebo-like sculpture dedicated to the 18 people who died Oct. 25, 2023, in the Lewiston mass shooting.

The sculpture brings together art pieces created by many youth and adults in the community, including some who lost a loved one in the mass shooting.

The piece stems from an idea art educator Jen McDermott had while she was working at Bates College in Lewiston right after the tragedy. McDermott, art educator Traci Molloy and LA Arts agency Administrator Courtney Reed-Marsh have worked together to bring the community art project idea to fruition after nearly two years.

Theater light designer Justin Moriarty built the framework of the sculpture and 15-year-old Zoe Catterton crocheted 859 forget-me-not flowers for it, representing the combined ages of the 18 victims. The flowers will be mounted on the inside of the 18 panels of the sculpture, one panel for each victim.

In addition to those flowers, each person who visits the sculpture will get a small crocheted forget-me-not as a remembrance of the 18 lives lost.

“It becomes a way for folks to hold the event, literally hold it in their hands and remember individuals and then take those memories to different locations, like seeds,” Molloy said. “I think of it as dandelions, when you blow on them and they go and they disperse.”

There will be a brief program of speakers starting at 7 p.m. the night of the opening.

The sculpture will be on display until Jan. 17, 2026. The sculpture is also viewable by private appointment after the Nov. 7 opening.

LA Arts is open to the public Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.