Quilting Connections

A few weeks ago I attended a traveling exhibition of quilts made by residents of the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center at The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative. The more I talked to participants in the program and their instructor Roy Mitchell, the more I could see why these young men, separated from their friends and families, would be drawn to quilting. It's not just an antiquated craft popular among women of a certain age. No, the practice of making quilts offers the opportunity to renew social bonds. They're strengthening ancestral bonds with their grandmothers and great aunts who first exposed them to the craft and reconnecting with their families to whom they regularly send their creations. They have become so well-versed in the art and technique that they're even donating quilts to homeless shelters. It's no wonder then that they spend 9 hours a day working on their quilts. They're sewing themselves a connection to the world they've been separated from. 

Apologies for the crummy sound quality--it was my first proper field recording. But oh what a fun way to start! 

Remembering Vinegar Hill with Gundars Osvalds

There are so many points at which these photos might never have been. It's remarkable that Gundars Osvalds rediscovered them at a time when there was a venue and woman in Charlottesville interested in to displaying the images. Indeed the fact that he took them at all is surprising. What inspired him to explore a neighborhood he had never before stepped in just before its demolition? He didn't know he was capturing history so he doesn't really remember his motivations and impressions more than 50 years later. But he's been reflecting on what the photos mean now and shared some thoughts with me for WTJU's Soundboard.  

Reflections on Nepal with Kiri and Bobong

The news coverage of the Nepalese earthquake has left much to be desired.* The trouble with the dry conveyance of facts is not only that its boring but also that it doesn't inspire curiosity or empathy for people who appear to be different from you. More and more I'm convinced that the way to get people to care about people over there and learn from big news stories is to deliver the news as stories, mini ethnographies of sorts.

So, as I was trying to capture a personal angle to the catastrophe, I came across several local connections to Nepal. Bobong Gurung is a native Nepali who now lives in Charlottesville and works as an interpreter for Nepali-speaking refugees. Kiri Van Lengen-Welty has spent time in Nepal volunteering for an organization called Empower Nepali Girls. 

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25th has wreaked havoc on the country.  But even as the death toll continues to rise, these two Charlottesville residents suggested that there’s reason to have hope for the country’s future.

Bobong began by describing Dharahara, a lighthouse-like watchtower built in 1832, which was destroyed by the earthquake.

 *For more on the problems of covering natural disasters see this On the Media piece.