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The State College community honors Osaze Osagie with 'Illuminating Hope' art exhibit and a vigil

A State College resident decorates a paper lightbulb that will become part of the "Illuminating Hope" art installation.
photo by Katie Knol
A State College resident decorates a paper lightbulb that will become part of the "Illuminating Hope" art installation.

Four years after State College police killed Osaze Osagie while serving a mental health warrant, Osagie's parents and community members came together for a weekend of events to honor his life.

On Saturday, a group gathered to make an art installation that will be hung in the borough building later this week. The theme is "Illuminating Hope."

Participants decorated paper cut into the shape of lightbulbs with designs and uplifting "I am" statements.

The art is meant to show how hope can be found even in darkness.

Leslie Laing helped put the event together. She said she's been living by a mantra she heard from an activist who visited Penn State the night Osagie died.

"We have to be proximate to the situation that we hope to change," Laing said. "We have to be willing to change the narrative, we have to remain hopeful at all times in order to create the change we seek, and we have to be willing to be inconvenienced and uncomfortable for the pursuit of justice."

Monday, March 20 marks four years since Osagie's death. There will be a candlelit vigil at 7 p.m. at the MLK Plaza Memorial to honor his life.

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Katie Knol is a WPSU radio news intern for fall 2022.