Gold: Deathwork
In the United States today, death is taboo. Despite its ever impending nature, this stage of life has become something hidden, with longer life spans and a shift away from aging in place; there is more distance from death than ever before. However, for some, staring into the eyes of mortality is a daily reality. From remembering those who have passed on, those in their final phases of life or those working in the industries that intersect and are formed around death, “Deathwork” engages with the labor of these practices, seeking to stop and confront this inevitability through the eyes of those who constantly do.
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“My Way” meet to discuss their first session and their plan for the remaining five sessions March 20, 2025 in Northwest Washington, D.C. Inspired by Frank Sinatra’s song of the same title, “My Way” is a group initially founded by two friends on a routine trip to Chincoteague, Virginia. Monica Heppell and Jeanne Downing found themselves discussing the recent deaths of family members and realized that they didn’t want to come to their demise in a similar fashion. This inspired the formation of a squad, later joined by friends Abigail Wiebenson and Susan Doolittle, to discuss and educate themselves around dying in America. Now they have gathered to pass their knowledge along to their peers, leading six sessions to other members of the Dupont Circle Village.
