My project is a direct response to the mental health crisis and experience of isolation created by the Covid-19 pandemic. “Art for Comfort : Art for Connection” will invite participants to explore comfort as a means to connect with their own inner resources and coping skills, as well as an opportunity to connect with each other in community.

Through a series of workshops, I will engage the community to create a virtual quilt. Using textiles and other art materials, people will work on their own personal 6” x 6” square that communicates for them an idea or experience of comfort. After the workshops are over, participants may donate the physical piece or send a digital copy of their art to me, and the submissions will be “sewn” into a digital quilt, which will be displayed online. The quilt will hold the community’s memories, hopes and dreams. Visitors to the website can view the quilt and read the stories provided by the participants. The subject of these stories will be of the participants’ choosing, but the focus will be on “connection and comfort”. A goal of the workshop will be to help people connect to, and express, their story in a way they find meaningful.