The final piece of the Waukesha Christmas Parade Memorial is now in place as artist Carmen de la Paz installed her sculpture dedicated to the victims of the 2021 attack.
De la Paz has spent years helping victims and the community find healing through art. This year, her work comes full circle as she will lead the Christmas parade as grand marshal just weeks after the dedication of her sculpture. She says it is a tribute to the six victims of the parade attacks and the community healing.
"I hope that they feel like I did them service," de la Paz said. "And the process creates just a little bit more love."
The artist installed the "Holding Love" sculpture herself Wednesday morning, which serves as the missing piece of the memorial honoring the six people killed in the attack.
TMJ4 was there as Carmen installed and worked on the sculpture ahead of Friday's dedication. She carefully examined the broken tiles she transformed into a mosaic on her sculpture, pointing out meaningful details.
"The 'Waukesha Strong' got left behind; that's significant. I'm sure people can see their hearts. And people will recognize their pieces. There is little bears here," Carmen said, pointing.
The sculpture represents the completion of a project that began more than three years ago with the tile wall portion of the memorial.
Watch: Artist unveils final Waukesha Christmas Parade Memorial sculpture
"This was the original idea. That was not even a thought," she said, pointing to the tile wall of the memorial. "The tile wall was not even a thought."
Carmen created thousands of tiles with community members, allowing anyone connected to the parade events to leave their message at the memorial.
"There are hundreds of people I met doing those tile walls, and they all touched me," Carmen said.
Her dedication to the community led to her selection as this year's Christmas parade grand marshal. She received the call while heading to the Emmy Awards for her television show, the Spanish-language version of "Ask This Old House."
Carmen, who grew up in Waukesha, has childhood memories of attending the parade with her family.
"My parents used to bring us, and we would wait for hours for the parade to come down," Carmen said. "I am completely humbled, honored, surprised, which makes it so wonderful."
The sculpture dedication takes place Friday, marking four years since the parade attacks. The community is invited to join the dedication ceremony.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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