Respond and Restore: Quilting the Collective Voice

Class Description

This class is a journey into the movements, stories and creative works that respond to crisis, allow us time to restore, and connect us deeply to one another and our collective humanity. The class will cover quilts, textiles and projects that spotlight topics such as erased histories, self-determination healing, mass incarceration and memorials. Students will leave with a deepened knowledge of quilt history and their own version of an embroidered and quilted manifesto that captures how they respond to social injustice and restore themselves through creativity.

Sharbreon Plummer, PhD is a an artist-researcher and public scholar with a heart for expanding how artistic practice is defined, supported, and framed through theory. She has organized curatorial projects such as Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in American South (2024), Stitching Abolition (2022) and Mirrored Migration (2017).

What to Expect

Format: In Person

Class Capacity: 18

Class Style: Workshop; participation- and assignment-based

Materials List

Required

• Instructor-Distributed Reading Materials
• Scissors
• Thread (sewing and embroidery weight)
• Fabric: center blocks will be provided by the instructor. Students are invited to bring their own fabric as well if they'd like.
• Sewing needles or sewing machine (Machine work allows for some speediness, but this can be adapted to hand piecing.)
• Fusible (for raw edge appliqué)

We suggest looking for materials from places like the Wasteshed.

First Assignment

• What lights a fire inside of you? What are the ways that you'd like to respond to injustice? For our first session, think about how you'd like to present these thoughts in the form of a personal declaration. It can be a one-word statement or a short sentence that captures your inner thoughts. This will be the anchor for your quilt manifesto.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Personal Declarations
2. Forgotten History/Amplifying Justice
3. Quilts as Memorial
4. Mass Incarceration
5. Healing
6. Studio Day

Cost and Registration

6 Sessions, $290 ($261 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($290), Community Supported ($265), and Sponsor ($315). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

Take a Look

View our full schedule of adult education classes.

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Questions?

Call us at (312) 255-3700 or send us an email at adulteducation@newberry.org.

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