ORLANDO, Fla. — Their faces gaze out from the pure white walls, some smiling, some serious, some possibly on the verge of a laugh at some private joke, and some decidedly enigmatic — men and women of mystery.

They are our friends, neighbors, relatives, compatriots: The 49 individuals killed June 12, 2016, by a gunman at Pulse nightclub, just a mile or so down the road from where their faces currently hang in honor.

“Created in Community: Portraits of Pulse” is on view until Aug. 23 in City Hall’s Terrace Gallery. It is, of course, a moving tribute — but the way it came about is also fascinating.

Local artist Jeff Sonksen devised the portraits using a paint-by-number format. Then, the victims’ family members and friends, as well as other community members, were able to follow the numbers to complete the works. In this way, the very creation of the art was part of the grieving — and healing — process.

More than 1,000 individuals contributed in some way to the portraits, part of the Orlando Traveling Memorial exhibited around the region and beyond. In 2024, the collection was acquired by the Orange County Regional History Center to make sure the works would be treated with the respect and care they deserve.

Perhaps because of the community spirit that created them, an overwhelming sense of love emanates from the portraits. Their monochromatic nature adds to the sense they exist out of normal time, and the slight blurry effect created calls to mind the way memories blur around the edges with the passing of the years.

Many are based on photos that appeared in the news reporting on the tragedy, so the figures look familiar, even to those like me who didn’t know them personally. I pause to wonder what their loved ones think about sharing these intimate images with the world.

A few contributors have added personal messages on the art: “Friend for ever.” “Unidos siempre” — Always together. Nicknames abound, making the figures even more human, more approachable: An Eddie, a Dee Dee, a Frankie, a DJ, a Mari, a Shaky.

A few are deliberately unfinished, a sign perhaps that their subjects’ young lives were also left unfinished; these are humans who had so much more to do.

The Frank Sinatra music playing in the gallery feels incongruous. These vibrant souls wanted to dance, but not to the sounds of Ol’ Blue Eyes.

The exhibit provokes more than an artistic reponse. A rush of memories descends: The frantic calls and texts, the blood drives, the prayers in church and out, the food donations, the shock, the numbness, the tears.

I deliberately waited to view “Portraits of Pulse” until after the rush of media attention on the anniversary around the June date. I didn’t want to be surrounded by crowds as I visited.

But I was not alone on a recent afternoon. Downtown workers strode through the gallery, a cut-through from their office to a lunch spot apparently, as they would often return several moments later with a bag of food.

At first it felt jarring, disrespectful almost — this intrusion of the banal, keeps-on-running world into a sacred space. But on reflection, I decided it was appropriate. The 49 lost at Pulse wouldn’t want the rest of us to stop dancing. And making them part of the daily hustle and bustle of life keeps them among us.

Because that’s where they are: With us still. In our thoughts, in our memories, in our hearts.

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‘Created in Community: Portraits of Pulse’

• What: Art exhibition commemorating the 10th anniversary of the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub

• Where: Terrace Gallery at Orlando City Hall, 400 S. Orange Ave. in Orlando

• When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days a week, until Aug. 23

• Cost: Free

• Info: pulseorlando.org

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