Friends and colleagues of Botham Jean will continue to honor his legacy after a commemorative portrait of the slain 26-year-old was unveiled at his former workplace.
The Dallas office of consulting company PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed a portrait of Jean on Tuesday, based on his mother’s favorite photo of him, CNN reported.
“We wanted something that would capture Bo's smile,” Scott Moore, managing partner for PwC said.
The portrait, which was designed by Texan artists Shane Albritton and Norman Lee, is made of 10,000 pieces of oak wood from throughout Jean’s home state of Texas and dyed in the colors of his native country, St. Lucia.
This is the portrait of Botham which will hang in 20th floor of the PwC office where he worked in Dallas. This portrait immortalizes Bo in such a way that will bring happiness and cheer every time someone passes it by.#bothamjean#belikebo
pic.twitter.com/fjQMABf7YC— Anne Donovan (@MillennialXpert) October 2, 2019
“The colors that we chose, the paint was taken from colors of St. Lucia: the traditional dress, the textiles, the architecture, was very much behind the choices of color. Those also happen to speak to his idea of being a vibrant person and community leader,” Lee explained.
Allbritton also echoed a similar sentiment in creating this memorial piece for Jean.
“It's meant to be an uplifting celebration of life of Bo, rather than letting the tragedy define the story,” Allbritton said.
In addition to the mural, PwC dedicated a collaborative co-working area called the “Botham Shem Jean Difference Space” within their Dallas office.
The firm also hosted a national “Day of Understanding” to discuss race and implicit workplace bias and established a scholarship fund at Jean’s alma mater, Harding University in Arkansas. The scholarship will be for students from marginalized communities who are interested in studying accounting and information management systems.
Last week, former police officer Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the murder of Jean on the night of September 6, 2018. Upon entering what she thought was her home, the 31-year-old white woman believed Jean to be an intruder and subsequently shot and killed him as he sat in his living room. Jurors reportedly considered the killing to be one of “sudden passion.”
The dust remains unsettled in the wake of the emotionally charged trial. During the hearing last week, critics adamantly challenged the actions of Judge Tammy Kemp for her quickness to forgive and console Guyger. Even more eerily, the key witness in Jean’s murder trial, Joshua Brown, was shot and killed on October 4, just days after Guyger’s sentencing, leading many to hypothesize his death was not by coincidence.
