Where Do We Go From Here? Paducah! by Mary Vaneecke

 I am thrilled to announce that Where Do We Go From Here? III is traveling to Paducah for the Yeiser Art Center's Fantastic Fibers exhibition, from March 18 - May 3.  The Yeiser is located at 200 Broadway St. in Paducah, Kentucky.  

The Where Do We Go From Here? series explores way-finding in a chaotic world.  The piece is inspired by a Wari textile in the collection of the Tucson Museum of Art.  Using the Japanese itajime method of dyeing fabric, I created this very contemporary version of a flying geese quilt.  

Where Do We Go From Here? III

Save the Date--by Mary Vaneecke

I am thrilled to announce that TheMourningProject.com, along with the March of Dimes Arizona Market and the Center for Compassion, will host its first-ever exhibition of 20,000 pairs of baby booties.  These 'little elegies' will help draw attention to the U.S. infant mortality rate.  We have the worst IM rate in the developed world and lose more than 20,000 American babies before their first birthday.  

The event will be in Tucson, Arizona on October 21, 2023.  

#20000BabyBooties      #UnitedAgainstInfantMortality     #BlanketChange

 

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 

The Mourning Project Nears #23000BabyBooties Milestone by Mary Vaneecke

I am so pleased to be able to announce that The Mourning Project, a huge community art project to collect 23,000 pairs of handmade baby booties, is near the end of the collection phase of the project! 

Hand-stitched booties for The Mourning Project.

Hundreds of makers are creating The Mourning Project to witness the grief of parents who mourn the loss of an infant, to raise awareness about the problem of infant mortality in the United States (which has the worst infant mortality rate in the developed world), and to begin a discussion about how we can give American infants the best chance at life.

The Mourning Project is gathering a little handmade elegy, a pair of baby booties, for each American baby lost before their first birthday. The project will call attention to the infant mortality rate in the US and educate the public about science-based solutions to this problem. Our goal is to raise awareness and literally save lives. We have the worst IM rate in the developed world and lose 23,000 babies every year. Other countries have practiced cost-effective treatments for years, so we know what works. We must call attention to this problem to create change.

As one maker wrote, It was a very cathartic project for me and I appreciated the opportunity to make booties to honor our Grandson Maxwell. …I can't thank you enough for heading up such an important project for awareness of infant mortality and for loved ones to make peace with their loss.

Or as another maker, Merle Eintracht put it, My love is in every stitch.

The booties will become part of a 38' by 38' art installation. As of April 2022, we are nearing the collection phase of the project, with only 5 kits of 100 pairs of booties left to be stitched. Partial installations have been viewed at guilds and art centers throughout the country, including Hyde Park in Chicago and Visions Art Museum in San Diego. See a virtual exhibition at TheMourningProject.com. We hope to document the first complete installation of the project with time-lapse drone photography or an animated short documentary to preserve this huge community art project in perpetuity.

Your financial gifts will support creation and exhibition of the booties, video documentation, shipping crates, etc. When exhibitions end, booties will be donated to organizations, like the March of Dimes, that serve infants and loss parents. Click here for a link to our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, to make an online gift.  

Check out our exhibition schedule and learn more about the issue at TheMourningProject.com. There are still a few kits of 100 pre-cut, embellished booties left to stitch.  Contact me at mary@maryvaneecke.com if you can hand or machine stitch a kit.  Be a part of this compelling project and help save little lives.

detail, The Mourning Project