Traveling exhibition

Here’s the list of pieces that will be a part of the Threads of Resistance traveling exhibit. You can see all the submitted work, as well as these pieces selected for the traveling exhibit, on the website at www.threadsofresistance.com

Julia M. Arden : Dawn Patrol
Mel Beach: RE$I$TAN¢E
Alice Beasley : Feeding Time at the Swamp 
Susan Bianchi : Liberty Marches
Sue Bleiweiss: My Body My Rules
Mary L. Bolton : My Flag, Our Colors
Barbara Brandel: The Disgrace – Words and Deeds
Tanya A. Brown: Game Over
Tanya A. Brown: Gusher
Susan Brubaker Knapp: Poisonous Words
Sandra Bruce: Zahra, Age 5, Syrian Refugee
Betty Busby: She Persisted
Allison Chambers and Emily Robbins: Lady Justice
Liberty Assaulted: Judy Coates Perez
Maryte Collard: The Kiss
Shannon M. Conley: Listen Louder Than You Sing
Phyllis A. Cullen: Death of Science
Amy Dame: Not So Safe
Tricia P. Deck: Our Fractured Homeland
Rebecca Fellows: Tears for America
Jamie Fingal:100 Days
Linda L. Friedman: Speaking Out
Kerri Green: Equality
Neroli Henderson: Dear Mr. Trump
Sylvia Hernandez: Flint Water
Audrey J. Hyvonen: False Dichotomies (I Don’t Fit in Your Box)
Sara Kelly: I Pledge
Lyric Montgomery Kinard: Still Yearning
Kristin La Flamme: #notnormal
Ann M. Lee: Word Power
Jessica Levitt: Equal Means Equal
Katherine H. McClelland: Speak Truth
Sara Mika: Political Power Grab
Gillian Moss: Next Target?
Karen S. Musgrave: Hands Off!
Kathy Nida: Work in Progress
Kathy Nida: Absolutely Nothing
Ellen F. November: Capitol Guns
Do Palma: Seeking Refuge
Do Palma: Nevertheless, They Persisted
Heidi A. Parkes: There’s Something Between Us
Julie Parrish: Get Woke
Claire Passmore: We Walk Together in Search of Liberty
Kelli N. Perkins: Unplugged
The Pixeladies: Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki: What Does an American Look Like?
Susan V. Polansky: Not To Be Tabled
Sandra Poteet : Chasm
Sheila H. Riess: Don’t Shoot (Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes)
Emily K. Robertson: A Day to Remember
Cyndy M. Rymer: Roe v. Wade Must Stand
Candace Hackett Shively: Learn to Question – Learn to Lead
Sarah Ann Smith: Speak Up, Speak Out
Amy D. Sullivan: Patriotism
Melanie Testa: Toxic Masculinity Must End
Denny (Denise) C. Webster: Women’s Rally, Greenville, SC. January 21, 2017
Julie Weinstein and Fran Sharp: Fill 1,000 Seats
Leni L. Wiener: Tears of the Grandfathers
Hope Wilmarth: Resist
Martha Wolfe: Privileged Times
Kathy York: Women’s March 2017: By the Numbers

We received submissions from 45 U.S. states, and 7 other countries. Here is the breakdown for all the works that were submitted:

AK 2
AL 2
AR 14
CA 84
CO 8
CT 9
DC 1
DE 1
FL 7
GA 2
HI 2
ID 1
IL 6
IN 4
KS 2
KY 1
LA 1
MA 45
ME 4
MD 11
MI 13
MN 7
MO 6
MT 2
NC 12
NJ 1
NM 2
NY 24
NH 2
NJ 5
NV 2
OH 6
OK 2
OR 17
PA 10
RI 5
SC 4
TX 19
TN 3
UT 1
VA 16
VT 4
WA 4
WI 12
WY 1
Canada 7
Australia 2
Italy 1
UK 3
New Zealand 1
Saudi Arabia 1
Lithuania 1

For the traveling exhibition, here is the breakdown:
AZ - 1
CA - 16
CO - 1
HI - 1
IL - 1
MA - 9
ME - 1
MD - 1
MI -1
NC - 2
NY - 4
NJ - 1
NM -1
NV -1
OK - 1
OR -1
PA - 2
SC - 1
TX - 5
VA - 1
WI -2
WY -1
UK -1
Canada - 1
New Zealand - 1
Lithuania -1
Australia - 2

Susan Brubaker Knapp

Wow!

Threads of Resistance received more than 550 submissions in response to its call for entries.  It was truly an emotional experience for all of us as we reviewed each and every artwork and artist statement. 

You can view all the art submitted, and read the artists’ statements, on the website here: http://www.threadsofresistance.com

Art is displayed within the category chosen by the artist when she/he entered her/his work. There is a slideshow option to make it easier to go through all the art.  

We are humbled by the knowledge that we were able to create a platform for so many artists to make their voices heard. We believe it’s important for all of these artworks to be seen, regardless of whether or not we were able to include them in the traveling exhibit, and so we created a website to give every artist who submitted a piece an opportunity to have their artwork seen and their voice heard.

We hope to announce the quilts that will be a part of the traveling exhibit by Monday, May 22, 2017. Everyone who submitted a piece for consideration will receive an email with the results.

– The Artist Circle

“Poisonous Words”

“Poisonous Words”

by Susan Brubaker Knapp, copyright 2017 (34.5" x 23.5")

Wholecloth painted, free-motion quilted. White cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint and ink, wool batting, cotton thread, commercial cotton fabric (backing)

“Poisonous Words” is my entry for the “Threads of Resistance” exhibition, which will premiere at the New England Quilt Museum July 11, 2017, and then travel to 11 other venues, including museums and quilt shows. I am one of ten artists organizing this exhibition. 

It is based on a sketch I made during the campaign, and features a painted and thread sketched portrait of Donald Trump with a copperhead snake going in his ear and out his mouth. He is surrounded by a cloud of his own poisonous words. 

I hated making this quilt. I hated it that I felt I had to make it. Working on this piece – seeing these words and hearing Trump’s voice saying them — made me physically nauseated.

“When someone shows you who they are,

believe them the first time.” 

– Maya Angelou

I was greatly disturbed by things Donald Trump said during the presidential campaign, and by the words he used. It was amazing how many women I know who were horrified to hear people using the word “pussy” or talking about pussyhats, but who brushed off Trump’s “grab ’em by the pussy” comment as “boys will be boys” or “locker room talk.” So much of what came out of his mouth were racist, misogynistic and xenophobic insults. 

For our democracy to succeed, and for us to solve vital problems our country faces, we must be able to discuss important issues with civility and respect, to listen to others’ views without insulting, even if we completely disagree. Finding common ground – even a small patch of it – is impossible without this. If these kinds of comments are considered acceptable for our president to say and tweet, then they become acceptable for others. They are a poison that infects us all. 

I believe that the rise in hate crimes, as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other organizations, is a direct result. Words have power. Words often lead to actions. The poison is spreading. 

All of the words in this piece are those of Donald Trump:

Nov. 13, 2015, campaign speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa: Trump said he wouldn’t reveal his secret plan to destroy ISIS, but “I would bomb the shit out of them. I’d just bomb those suckers. I’d blow up the pipes, I’d blow up the refineries, I’d blow up every single inch — there would be nothing left.”

July 13, 2016, on Twitter: “Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign!”

Trump called Alicia Machado, Miss Universe 1996 “Miss Piggy,” because she gained weight after the competition. He also called her “Miss Housekeeper,” and “Miss Housekeeping,” apparently because she is Latina. “She was like an eating machine,” Trump told Howard Stern in a radio interview in February 1997.

Presidential announcement speech, June 16, 2015: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

In 2005, Donald Trump made the following comments in an interview with Billy Bush for the TV show Access Hollywood: “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything. …I moved on her and I failed, I'll admit it," Trump can be heard saying in the video. “I did try and fuck her. She was married.”

In 2011, attorney Elizabeth Beck told CNN that she was representing clients who were trying to get their condominium deposits back from Trump after a failed real estate venture in 2011. She said that she had been taking a deposition from Trump when she asked for a break to pump breast milk. “He got up, his face got red, he shook his finger at me and he screamed, ‘You're disgusting, you’re disgusting,’ and he ran out of there.”

Feb. 11, 2016, at a rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump told voters to reject local companies who move business overseas: “You can tell them to go fuck themselves.” (He mouthed the word, but didn’t say it out loud.) 

Oct. 19, 2016, at the final presidential debate, Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton was “such a nasty woman” while she was answering a question about how she would raise taxes on the rich to tackle debt and entitlements if she were to become president.

August 2016: After a presidential debate moderated by Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly, Trump said she “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

Dec. 7, 2015, statement on Muslim immigration: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” 

After Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said Trump had short, stubby fingers in the 1980s, Trump has repeatedly responded, sending him photos of his hands. In a 2011 New York Post article he said, “'My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.”