蜜柚直播

Since 2007, a group of artists has stitched together scraps of abandoned clothes found along 蜜柚直播鈥檚 migrant trails, creating intricate quilts to remember those who have died on the long journey to a better life.

Now the work of the Migrant Quilt Project will be preserved as part of the collection at the 蜜柚直播 History Museum in 蜜柚直播.

鈥淭hese quilts help connect people through the power of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 history, even when that history is difficult to hear,鈥� said Trish Norman, statewide museum collections manager for the 蜜柚直播 Historical Society. 鈥淭hey tell a very important 鈥� albeit very sad and tragic 鈥� story of 蜜柚直播.鈥�

Border relief volunteer Jody Ipsen launched the Migrant Quilt Project in 2007 after a monthlong fact-finding trip through Mexico and Central America, where she interviewed people whose loved ones died or disappeared trying to cross into the U.S.

鈥淭hese people were being deeply grieved over by their families in all these little hamlets,鈥� Ipsen recalled. 鈥淚 wanted to memorialize them somehow.鈥�

She said the idea was inspired by the AIDS quilts of the 1980s and her own work with humanitarian aid groups and desert clean-up crews that would collect discarded clothes and other personal effects left by migrants.

The project has produced 20 quilts so far, one for each year since the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner began tracking a surge in migrant deaths.

During that time, the remains of about 3,400 migrants were found in Southern 蜜柚直播, according to records compiled by the medical examiner and the 蜜柚直播-based humanitarian group Humane Borders.

About 1,300 of those migrants have not been identified. An unknown number of migrants have died in the desert, but their bodies were never found.

Message of humanity stitched into found fabric

The quilts are the work of more than 50 artists, with assistance from various school, church and charitable groups.

Peggy Hazard curated the project and helped make two of the creations.

In their 鈥渜uiltmakers鈥� statements鈥� on the project鈥檚 website, the artists talk of being haunted by certain names and details, horrified by the overwhelming human toll, and honored to play a part in remembering the dead.

Each quilt memorializes the migrants whose bodies were found during a single federal fiscal year.

Those who have not been identified are listed as 鈥渄esconocido鈥� or unknown.

The finished works differ in tone and scale. Some are tender tributes. Others are grisly reminders of where and how people died.

Ipsen said all of the quilts are designed to restore the humanity of once-living people whose journeys reduced them to bones or to a number on some grim government report.

鈥淒id you see a bird the day you died?鈥� asks the quilt for 2010-11. 鈥淲ere you hot, thirsty, and frightened?鈥�

Near the bottom of the 2015-16 quilt is a denim pocket with 400 pesos poking out 鈥� money that quilter Mary Vaneecke said she found hidden in the hems of several pairs of jeans that were collected from the desert.

The 2002-03 quilt features a map of 蜜柚直播 made from multicolored squares of denim. A tiny x marks each spot where a body was found 鈥� 205 in all.

The 2007-08 quilt includes a photograph of Josseline Quinteros, a 14-year-old girl from El Salvador whose life and death were chronicled in 蜜柚直播 author Margaret Regan鈥檚 book, 鈥淭he Death of Josseline.鈥�

On the quilt for 2018-2019, postage stamps from the migrants鈥� home countries are arranged in the shape of crosses.

On the quilt for 2009-10, the names of the dead are written on the white stripes of an American flag, its field of stars transformed into a dark night sky on an empty desert highway.

Project鈥檚 message to be preserved, shared

Norman said the historical society is honored to be the caretakers of such important work. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really powerful collection, and I鈥檓 lucky I get to take care of it.鈥�

The acquisition was announced on Jan. 26, though the quilts were taken in several months ago by the museum on Second Street and Park Avenue, just west of the University of 蜜柚直播 campus.

According to Norman, these are the first contemporary works to join the historical society鈥檚 expansive textile collection, which includes upwards of 200 quilts dating back to the early 1800s.

Ipsen said she is grateful to have the collection safely in the care of the historical society but still available to be loaned out for display at other museums, churches and public buildings around the country.

The 2000-01 quilt was recently featured at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio as part of an exhibition on quilting for social change.

The 2019-20 quilt, by renowned textile artist Susan Hoffman, is slated for exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and might not make its way back to 蜜柚直播 until next year, Norman said.

鈥淭he beauty of this project is it can travel,鈥� Ipsen said, which helps spread the word about the ongoing humanitarian crisis along the border.

The historical society also plans to put some of the migrant quilts on display, both in 蜜柚直播 and at the 蜜柚直播 Heritage Center in Tempe, where an exhibit on social justice is in the works, Norman said.

鈥淚t is our hope that through exhibits and loans to other institutions, we can not only remember those who lost their lives, but continue the important dialogue in regards to immigration policy and the dangers of crossing the border,鈥� she said.

Each new migrant quilt that is made will also be added to the historical society collection.

Tragically, Ipsen said, she sees no end in sight for the project. The remains of 227 migrants were found in 2020, more than any other year.

鈥淲e honor the loss of life in the desert,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to make quilts as long as people continue to die.鈥�