I just came back from Faith Bocian's dorm room at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Bolton Hill where she described for me her school project that is designed to bring attention to violence in our city.

Faith, who is 19 and just completed her freshman year, has got a used teddy bear for each of the more than 80 slayings in the city. She plans to give each one a nametag with the name of a victim, the age and location of the killing. On Wednesday, all the bears will be on display at the NAACP's city branch headquarters at 8 W. 26th St., from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

I heard of Faith from the NACCP president, Marvin L. "Doc" Cheatham Sr., who held a rally earlier this year across from City Hall but was disappointed by the turnout and organization. He wants to raise awareness of the killings, and found Faith's project encouraging. She got the idea from seeing teddy bears strapped to poles and trees in makeshift memorials around the city.

The photography major did this for a class called "art matters" and she told me most of the bears are donated an used. She wanted them "pre-loved" to represent memories. Her mother is a paramedic with Baltimore Fire Department Engine Co. 42 on Harford Road and I plan to ride with her Tuesday morning and write a column on the bears for Wednesday.

“I wanted to show how big a problem this is," Faith told me as she packed up her dorm room (it was move-out day in the dorms; down the street, graduates were preparing for their big day. she's now been through the list of victims several times: "It’s crazy. Some were involved with gangs. Some were just drunk. I can’t imagine being in that situation at all.”