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Long before political tension reached North Bryan Street, the Arlington dead end had the feel of a close-knit village. Children spent summer evenings climbing trees, playing ball and riding bikes while families across generations watched out for one another.

Rachel Burns remembers neighbors gathering for weekly movie nights and children growing up almost like cousins. But that sense of unity was tested during the 2016 presidential campaign.

A multigenerational household across from Burns displayed an 8-by-4-foot Trump sign. Burns said children associated with the home began removing Hillary Clinton signs, damaging bumper stickers and carving into trees. Arguments spread among neighborhood children.

Burns, who often served as a neighborhood “den mother,” gathered the children in her backyard. She told them that freedom of speech meant accepting that people had different perspectives.

She reassured other parents that the conflict would pass after Election Day, when she expected the large campaign sign to disappear. Instead, it remained.

The day after the election, Burns walked outside, saw the sign and felt the dispute might never end. While driving to work later, she began thinking about how the neighborhood could move forward.

Her answer came from a pile of wood in her basement.

Although handy, Burns had never attempted anything quite like the project she envisioned. Over roughly 10 days, accompanied by Maria Callas opera arias, she built a 4-by-8-foot wooden sign spelling “LOVE.” Its 50 bulbs represented the 50 states.

Burns and her husband installed the illuminated sign on their porch and switched it on around 10 p.m. The couple across the street reacted with an audible gasp. One day later, the Trump sign came down.

Other residents soon asked Burns to make signs for them. She invited each neighbor to choose a word and, when time and space allowed, created the pieces without charge. Large signs declaring “HOPE,” “PEACE,” “UNITY” and “CARE” joined “LOVE” along the street.

Interest returned as the 2024 election approached. Passersby asked about the displays, and Burns said people found encouragement in the story behind them.

The signs have also become linked to another difficult chapter in Burns’ life. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2013 and later founded Cancer Culture, a nonprofit that uses art and cultural expression to support people with metastatic breast cancer.

The organization also conducts volunteer projects, retreats and fundraisers. Burns said all donations go toward metastatic breast cancer research and support. Her creative work includes music and an album titled “Living Your Breast Life.”

Bryan Street is quieter today than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Burns said families withdrew into their homes and spent more time with screens. The neighborhood’s children still know one another well, she said, but the street has not regained its former energy.

The handmade signs remain as reminders of the community that shaped them—and of one resident’s effort to answer division with a message of love. Burns still has enough wood to make a few more.