The Migrant Quilt Project Comes Home by Mary Vaneecke

The Migrant Quilt Project memorializes migrants who have died seeking refuge in the US.  Every year, the Project recruits a volunteer artist or organization to create a quilt made from clothing abandoned by migrants along the border near my hometown, Tucson.  Each quilt carries the names of those whose bodies have been identified, or the word 'desconocido' ('stranger' in Spanish) for those whose remains are unidentified.   

My contribution to the project covers the fiscal year 2015-16 and honors the 144 people whose bodies were found at the border that year.  It features an image of Virgin de Guadelupe, and a silhouette of Fr. Eusebio Francisco Kino.   Fr. Kino was the first European in the area that is now Tucson, and is in my view the first border crosser here.  Creating this work was a humbling and sobering experience.  

Desconocidos, by Mary Vaneecke

The Migrant Quilt Project is back in Tucson, Arizona after a tour around the country that included venues in Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois and Washington D.C.  The exhibitions drew national attention and were featured in articles in the Associated Press, New York Times, LA Times and the Washington Post.  

The Arizona Historical Society recently acquired the entire MQP collection, which is on display now through February 2023.  The exhibition is the first chance for the public to view the 2019-20 quilt, 

For information on the current exhibit, click here. 

To see more of my work, click here:  www.maryvaneecke.com