A grassroots group that plans to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the War in Vietnam in 2025 will convene its first public meeting about their ideas on Saturday, Dec. 16 at the VietAID Community Center on Charles Street. The meeting, which will take place at noon, will include a discussion about an proposed art installation located in Fields Corner.

Dorchester-based artist Trân Vũ is one of the people leading the effort, which is called “1975: Vietnamese Diaspora Healing Memorial.”

Trân grew up in Dorchester and has worked to create art that represents the diversity of the neighborhood through murals and projects that explore identity, justice, and belonging.

“As someone who grew up in the community, I've participated in rituals and ceremonies, especially remembrance of various anniversaries of the war,” said Trân. “What I notice is that is usually done at the various American veteran's sites, such as the one on Morrissey Boulevard. Growing up, there was no space for the Vietnamese community, especially a permanent marker of our kind existing in the community.”

With the half-century anniversary quickly approaching, Trân has teamed up with mental health clinician and community program manager, Linh-Phương Vũ, with the hope of eventually developing a permanent memorial.

“My original vision was to make a permanent memorial, but that might take a lot longer than the year 2025,” Trân said in an interview with the Reporter. “So right now, we're planning for a temporary public art installation on public land in 2025 with a long-term vision to build a permanent memorial in Dorchester.”

She added: “This project is part of a larger commemoration initiative and thinking about the legacy of war and healing. We want to build a healing memorial to honor the community and the impact of war and how that still affects families and communities.”

Saturday’s meeting, she said, is a first step to announce the project and bring together coalition partners.

“It’s about sharing our mission, vision, and goals for this project and laying out the next steps for the next two years,” the artist said.

Even if community members cannot attend on the 16th, they can collaborate on the project through a survey available in both Tiếng Việt and English. Physical copies of the survey can also be found at various locations including VietAID, Coco Leaf, and Boston Little Saigon office on Dorchester Avenue.

“We really care about it being rooted and grounded in community because for a project like this to be feasible and for it to happen in the way that we want it to be in remembrance and in honoring it has to be rooted in community,” Trân said. “We couldn't do it alone, nor do we want to do it alone. We want to bring alongside the community to have it be truly accessible and inclusive for Vietnamese community members and also non-Vietnamese community members because Dorchester is truly diverse.”