2008 Woodie Awards
WC to air dirty laundry
Kelly Graham
Issue date: 4/20/05 Section: News
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This Thursday in the Academic Quad, West Chester University ?s Clothesline Project will be on display. The Clothesline Project, in which Tshirts designed in honor of female victims and survivors of violence are displayed, is meant to educate others and to bring a show of solidarity to those who often live in silence after an attack.
The Clothesline Project is sponsored by the Women?s Center. Director Robin Garrett calls the display a "powerful consciousness raiser." West Chester?s branch of the project began in 1998, after a group of students attended a conference at another school where a small clothesline was set up and were moved by how powerful it was.
According to the official Web site of the Clothesline Project, www.clotheslineproject.org, the original project was started in 1990 by a coalition of women?s groups in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The goal was to create something that would educate and break the silence about violence against women. Many women in this core group had experienced some kind of personal violence themselves, and wanted to "take staggering, mind-numbing statistics and turn them into a provocative, "in-your-face" educational and healing tool."
One of those women was Rachel Carey-Harper, an artist who had been moved by the power of the AIDS quilt. She presented the idea of using shirts designed by survivors, as well as friends and family of survivors and victims, hanging from a clothesline.
This simple concept allowed for each woman to create a shirt, telling her story in her own unique way using words and art. The Clothesline Project was meant to be a healing tool for those who created a shirt, an educational tool for all who came to view it, and to bring a feeling of unity for survivors of violence.
The project began to grow right away after its debut in October of 1999 at an annual "Take Back the Night" march and rally in Massachusetts. Thirty-one shirts were displayed at first, and all day, women lined up to create their own T-shirt. The Clothesline Project first re-ceived publicity in a small magazine, which was then picked up
The Clothesline Project is sponsored by the Women?s Center. Director Robin Garrett calls the display a "powerful consciousness raiser." West Chester?s branch of the project began in 1998, after a group of students attended a conference at another school where a small clothesline was set up and were moved by how powerful it was.
According to the official Web site of the Clothesline Project, www.clotheslineproject.org, the original project was started in 1990 by a coalition of women?s groups in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The goal was to create something that would educate and break the silence about violence against women. Many women in this core group had experienced some kind of personal violence themselves, and wanted to "take staggering, mind-numbing statistics and turn them into a provocative, "in-your-face" educational and healing tool."
One of those women was Rachel Carey-Harper, an artist who had been moved by the power of the AIDS quilt. She presented the idea of using shirts designed by survivors, as well as friends and family of survivors and victims, hanging from a clothesline.
This simple concept allowed for each woman to create a shirt, telling her story in her own unique way using words and art. The Clothesline Project was meant to be a healing tool for those who created a shirt, an educational tool for all who came to view it, and to bring a feeling of unity for survivors of violence.
The project began to grow right away after its debut in October of 1999 at an annual "Take Back the Night" march and rally in Massachusetts. Thirty-one shirts were displayed at first, and all day, women lined up to create their own T-shirt. The Clothesline Project first re-ceived publicity in a small magazine, which was then picked up
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