We will be discussing how quilting is used as a tool for social justice and storytelling. We will also be discussing our current temporary exhibit, “Welcome Quilts” which contain drawings of “welcome” from children and adults alike as a sign of welcome to those crossing the Arizona/Mexico border. 

Gale Hall/Welcome Quilts: As a retired professor of early childhood education in NH, Gale Hall moved to southern AZ in 2016 and started making quilts for children immigrating to the United States who with their families were cared for at the Casa Alitas Welcome Center in Tucson.  Moved by artwork of the children depicting their reasons for leaving home, their journeys, detention at the border and drawings of what they loved, Gale looked for ways to help people understand how forced immigration impacts children and families while trying to replace messages of hate and fear towards these families with those of welcome and hope.  This has resulted in the development of a 3-day desert retreat, Leaving Home: Immigration Through the Eyes of Children, and the Welcome Home Quilts.

Gretchen Ginnerty/Love Quilt Project: In 2011, architect and interior designer Gretchen Ginnerty founded the Love Quilt Project after a mission trip to South Africa to construct foster homes for children.  On the trip, Gretchen learned about the millions of children who had been orphaned mostly due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  She also wanted to help American children to learn about what was happening in South Africa.  Gretchen’s passion for art and textiles and her involvement in child development came together with the design of a quilt that would not only wrap a child in warmth but also be filled with messages of love created by American children.  The Love Quilt project was born.

India Aubry (President/Co-Founder) and Maggie Urgo (Outreach Coordinator) for Voices from the Border: Led by the values of justice, compassion and human dignity, Voices from the Border is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Patagonia, AZ that was formed following the Women's March of 2017. Our mission uniquely combines free temporary housing and humanitarian aid to migrants and asylum seekers in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico with art-centered creative activism and advocacy to deepen understanding about the lived experience of migration on the U.S. side of the border. 

Melissa del Bosque (moderator for the program): Melissa del Bosque has written about the U.S.-Mexico border since 1998 for various media outlets, including ProPublica, The Intercept, The Guardian, The Texas Observer, and Harper’s. Her work has been acknowledged with numerous journalism awards including the 2020 RFK Human Rights Journalism Award. She co-founded The Border Chronicle.