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Artist Needs Hundreds Of Volunteers For Center City Project

By Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A local artist is hoping hundreds of people will come into Center City tomorrow to help pay homage to the thousands of Americans killed last year by gun violence.

"We can't do it without community participation," says Peter Quinn, the force behind the concept for American Casualties: A Drawing. The two-day project requires hundreds of amateur artists to help sketch 12,000 chalk body outlines along eight blocks of JFK Boulevard.

Quinn says all folks need to do is show up. "They'll be given chalk and they'll literally lay down on the pavement and trace each other to create the drawing."

He needs about 1,000 people to show up to help cover eight-block by 50-foot canvas.

"Each person would then have to draw 12 bodies, be traced 12 times. By coming out you show your concern for your community and the community at large."

Quinn says the sketching will take place between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. tomorrow between 20th and 30th Streets along JFK Boulevard. Then on Sunday, the massive drawing will be available for all to see.

For more information, go to AmericanCasualtiesDrawing.com.

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