Feel Good Friday: Floral Hearts

When artist Kristina Libby started the Floral Heart Project to give the survivors of COVID-19 victims’ places to mourn, she was thinking of people like Michelle Pepe, who last saw her father just before she went into quarantine after contracting the coronavirus — and unwittingly infecting both parents. Her last goodbye to him came by phone. Pepe and her family never had the chance to have a proper memorial, and so Libby stepped in.

Each week she would construct and lay large floral hearts around New York City.

“I would watch people kneel down and pray. I would watch people sort of kiss their fingers and then kiss the heart,” Libby said. “It was allowing them to feel like it was OK to admit our sadness in this moment.”

Watch the story of Kristina Libby and her efforts to help provide memorials below and read the full story at APNews.com.