The Hearts Project is a memorial made to
honor lives lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is work that takes individual, hand-cut hearts symbolizing all 13,068 Arkansas deaths and places them within quilt-like collages designed to house memory. Our intention is to disrupt the illusion that the pandemic is behind us. Believing in this illusion fosters a kind of forgetfulness that allows the hard past to slip away.
As you engage with our work, take time to pause, reflect, and remember the stories we put forth of a pandemic comprised of multiple, diverse experiences. Doing so will recall the suffering and loss, thereby removing the shadows of uncomfortable times we believe must never be forgotten.
Where to Experience
NWACC
November 10 – February 17, 2026
The COVID-19 Memorial Exhibit will be located in the Walmart Auditorium in the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies.
The Process
Once inspiration hits, there is action and a process to bring a vision to life in honoring those lost. Here is our approach.
Cutting
Sorting
Arranging
Mounting
The Finished Memorial On Display
Artist and Founder, Monica Moore, stands before the initial three frames created for The COVID-19 Memorial displayed here at the Fayetteville Public Library.
Meet the Artist
Photo by Andrew Kilgore
Monica Moore’s work is rooted in the belief that transformation can reveal extraordinary beauty in everyday life. From her beginnings in southwest Missouri to a pivotal trip to Japan, she has learned to see both natural and urban landscapes as vessels for art and memory, an approach that shapes her exploration of digital, textile, and mixed-media art.
Over the years, she has transformed overlooked materials, from vintage linens to magazine pages, into works that critique consumer culture while honoring human resilience. Most recently, this journey led to The Hearts Project, a COVID-19 memorial honoring 13,068 Arkansans through thousands of hand-cut paper hearts. This evolving body of work invites reflection, remembrance, and a renewed way of seeing the world around us.
Impact Testimonials
I have been a mentor to independent artist Monica Moore, encouraging her pursuit to create a memorial to the COVID pandemic experience. Her project documents and memorializes the coronavirus pandemic as it fades from view and the historical memory. Monica is creating an arts-based memorial to remember and honor lives lost. She does this so that the greatest pandemic of our generation is never forgotten. It has been an honor for me to see her initial concepts exhibited at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum which included a hands-on art project for participants. This involved the opportunity for patrons to … read more
Michael Hall
Executive Director, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of absorbing your The Hearts Project/Covid-19 Memorial—opening reception at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum. The considerable thought, efforts, desire, and artistry that “fueled” the project to honor those who passed from Covid-19 (and their loved ones) is truly a work of love, and to be commended! I hope that the exhibit will travel the country to build unity and love—a common thread to join our lives together! It is an amazing Memorial, Monica. read more
Eileen Kohnke
During the COVID shutdowns, we had much to grieve. Some of us lost friends and family to COVID, and some of us were sick multiple times. Even introverts became weary of the isolation – no more time out with friends, no more going out to shop or see a movie for fun. But we are resilient, and we worked at having some fun, staying hopeful, and staying in touch. Much of this was possible through screens and technology. We attended virtual classes, Facetimed our friends and family, used social media, texted, watched YouTube, movies, and shows at home, and played … read more
Art Students of Life Styles’ Blair Center
This COVID memorial is beautiful. My brother died of COVID at 35. He was a nurse. We are in Chicago, but I have been searching for COVID memorial art, and a friend passed along this project and exhibition. Thank you for this incredible tribute. I use the white heart because his fellow nurses referenced the white hats, a symbol for nursing heroes, apparently. They read a poem with a candlelight vigil in our backyard for my mother, me, and his widow. Very moving. read more
Betty
I wasn’t prepared or interested in thinking about COVID again. But my friend Monica Moore invited me to the closing of The Heart Project: A Third Dimension. Once there, I wasn’t expecting to be moved to tears, but I was. The frontline workers’ piece tugged at me. Remembering how disposable healthcare staff became triggered memories I wanted to forget. Thinking about the craze of unwillingness to take a vaccine that could prevent death, or severe illness, sent me back to feeling frustrated with societal ignorance (as if that frustration isn’t an everyday experience now, AS IF). Although I wasn’t a … read more
A.B. Merritt
I have been a mentor to independent artist Monica Moore, encouraging her pursuit to create a memorial to the COVID pandemic experience. Her project documents and memorializes the coronavirus pandemic as it fades from view and the historical memory. Monica is creating an arts-based memorial to remember and honor lives lost. She does this so that the greatest pandemic of our generation is never forgotten. It has been an honor for me to see her initial concepts exhibited at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum which included a hands-on art project for participants. This involved the opportunity for patrons to … read more
Michael Hall
Executive Director, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of absorbing your The Hearts Project/Covid-19 Memorial—opening reception at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum. The considerable thought, efforts, desire, and artistry that “fueled” the project to honor those who passed from Covid-19 (and their loved ones) is truly a work of love, and to be commended! I hope that the exhibit will travel the country to build unity and love—a common thread to join our lives together! It is an amazing Memorial, Monica. read more
Eileen Kohnke
During the COVID shutdowns, we had much to grieve. Some of us lost friends and family to COVID, and some of us were sick multiple times. Even introverts became weary of the isolation – no more time out with friends, no more going out to shop or see a movie for fun. But we are resilient, and we worked at having some fun, staying hopeful, and staying in touch. Much of this was possible through screens and technology. We attended virtual classes, Facetimed our friends and family, used social media, texted, watched YouTube, movies, and shows at home, and played … read more
Art Students of Life Styles’ Blair Center
This COVID memorial is beautiful. My brother died of COVID at 35. He was a nurse. We are in Chicago, but I have been searching for COVID memorial art, and a friend passed along this project and exhibition. Thank you for this incredible tribute. I use the white heart because his fellow nurses referenced the white hats, a symbol for nursing heroes, apparently. They read a poem with a candlelight vigil in our backyard for my mother, me, and his widow. Very moving. read more
Betty
I wasn’t prepared or interested in thinking about COVID again. But my friend Monica Moore invited me to the closing of The Heart Project: A Third Dimension. Once there, I wasn’t expecting to be moved to tears, but I was. The frontline workers’ piece tugged at me. Remembering how disposable healthcare staff became triggered memories I wanted to forget. Thinking about the craze of unwillingness to take a vaccine that could prevent death, or severe illness, sent me back to feeling frustrated with societal ignorance (as if that frustration isn’t an everyday experience now, AS IF). Although I wasn’t a … read more
A.B. Merritt
Upcoming Events
See our upcoming exhibit dates, events, artist talks, community workshops and more.
Updates from the Hearts
October 2025 Updates from The Hearts Project
Quarterly Newsletter for The Hearts Project Coming Soon!Greetings from The Hearts Project! We are excited to share that you will soon receive our very first quarterly newsletter for The Hearts Project. Inside, you’ll find updates on noteworthy developments with…
September 2025 Updates from The Hearts Project
Monica Moore delivers presentation to CE Chapter of P.E.O. – Siloam Springs, Arkansas On Tuesday, September 9, Monica gave a presentation about The Hearts Project to the CE Chapter of P.E.O. in Siloam Springs, a women’s philanthropic organization with a worldwide…
In the Media
‘The Hearts Project’ memorializes the pandemic with hand-cut paper hearts
By Jack Travis at KUAF
Fayetteville Artist to Speak About Memorial for Pandemic Victims at Fort Smith Event
By Todd Gill at Fayetteville Flyer
Act of Meditation Becomes Collaborative Memorial for Lives Taken by COVID-19
By Dustin Staggs of the Arkansas Dem-Gaz
“The Hearts Project” COVID-19 Memorial Continues with a New Panel
By Dustin Staggs of the Arkansas Dem-Gaz
Artist, Nonprofit Honor Pandemic Experience with Collaborative Exhibit
By Jack Travis of KUAF
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