SOCIAL JUSTICE SEWING ACADEMY
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Art Behind Bars Volume I | Incarcerated Adults, 2017

This workshop was powerful as members of the incarcerated population often lack opportunities to express themselves, although some workshop attendees were unable to complete their blocks after being sent to solitary confinement for behavior challenges. This artistic activity provided them with a therapeutic form of dialogue and expression. In the future, SJSA plans to continue to grant marginalized and often silenced populations opportunities to be heard and seen through their artwork.
Materials: Cotton
Techniques: Raw-edge appliqué, hand embroidered, machine quilted 
Finished Size: 55" x 60"
Led by former prosecutor Emory Christian, 16 male inmates participated in a Social Justice Sewing Academy workshop in a San Francisco County Jail. The workshop environment became a sacred space, alive with comradery, community, accomplishment and pride for the participants. Before beginning the sewing project, participants watched films - "Common Threads," about the AIDS Memorial Quilt, "How To Make An American Quilt," and "Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend" - and engaged in discussions of creativity and the inequities of racism, sexism and homophobia. Christian said, "After loading the students' minds with fresh concepts of social justice, they sketched their ideas onto paper and transferred their concepts onto cloth." Some squares expressed peace, love and kindness while others included images of trees and calls for justice. Ultimately, their blocks are a window into social justice as seen from the perspective of the incarcerated. People’s identities are ingrained within these blocks and images of violence, gun violence, and death are scattered throughout. Each block tells the story of the maker’s past.​
Picture

Address

Social Justice Sewing Academy
​PO Box 2473 
​Antioch, CA 94531

Email

info@sjsacademy.com
  • HOME
  • Shop
  • ABOUT
    • THE MOVEMENT >
      • WHAT WE DO >
        • Quilts of Remembrance
        • The SJSA Remembrance Project >
          • Remembrance Project Page
        • Block of the Month
        • SJSA Business Incubator
      • TESTIMONIALS
      • OUR COMMUNITY QUILT PROCESS
    • MEET THE TEAM
    • SJSA AMBASSADORS >
      • Audrey Bernier
      • Bryan Robinson
      • Cecilia Charney
      • Kailah Foreman
      • Ann Guiam
      • Carina Cabriales
      • Chloe Gorski
      • Fia Carlone
      • Yohana Tecleab
  • DONATE
    • SPONSOR
  • GET INVOLVED
    • EMBROIDER A BLOCK >
      • Examples of Embroidery
    • HOST A WORKSHOP
    • JOIN THE TEAM
    • HOST THE ART
  • GALLERY
    • WORKSHOPS >
      • Arts in Corrections Conference
      • Alliance Gertz-Ressler High School
      • Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
      • Cambridge Rindge and Latin
      • Jefferson High School
      • Girls Garage Workshop
      • Lakota Youth Speak
      • Obama Portrait Workshop
      • Pollination Project Workshop
      • RAC x Latina Center Workshop
      • Stitch. Resist. Persist.
      • Overton High School
      • Vallejo Probation
    • PROGRAMS >
      • SJSA x SJQTM >
        • Community Action Projects
      • 2019 SUMMER INSTITUTE
      • 2018 SUMMER INSTITUTE
      • SJSA Summer 2018
      • Berkeley Summer 2016
    • Quilts >
      • Individual Quilts
      • Berkeley SJSA Class of 2016
      • Art Behind Bars Volume I
      • Art Behind Bars Volume II
      • Community Quilts >
        • 2016 Community Quilts
        • 2017 Community Quilts
        • 2018 Community Quilts
        • 2019 Community Quilts
        • 2020 Community Quilts
      • 2021 Community Quilts
      • Cuba Series
      • Obama Portrait Series
    • Exhibitions >
      • Current Exhibitions >
        • UC Riverside
      • Past Exhibitions >
        • Connecting Threads: SF Jewish Center
        • Fuller Craft Museum
        • Pacific International Quilt Festival 2018
        • Threads of Truth Gallery Guide
        • Panorama Framing Gallery
        • Pick Museum at NIU
        • Mule Gallery >
          • Mule Gallery Guide
        • Museum of Design Atlanta
        • New England Quilt Museum
        • QuiltCon 2018
        • QuiltCon 2019
        • QuiltCon 2020
        • Richmond Art Center
        • Ross Art Museum
        • San Jose Museum of Quilt & Textiles
        • Utah Quilt & Sewing Marketplace
        • Voices in Cloth
        • World Quilt Tampa 2019
  • PRESS
    • ARTICLES >
      • A Stitch in Time - Fuller Craft Exhibit Review
      • Brentwood Press
      • Britex Fabric
      • BTMB Magazine
      • Chicago Tribune
      • Craftivism Blog
      • Crafty Planner
      • Create Whimsy
      • Creativity Project
      • Harvard GSE
      • Huffington Post
      • Hyperallergic Article
      • Mercery News
      • Midwest Craft Con 2020
      • Modern Patchwork
      • Quilt Trip
      • Quilting Art Magazine
      • Quilting as a Social Medium
      • Seriously Badass Women
      • Stonemountain and Daughter
      • Teen Vogue
      • Urban Plains
      • Washington Post - Injustice Block
    • PODCASTS >
      • Close Knit Podcast
      • Craft Alliance Podcast
      • Crafty Planner Podcast
      • JCCSF Panel
      • Just Wanna Quilt - Colleen Haraden
      • Just Wanna Quilt - Nancy Williams
      • Just Wanna Quilt - Sara Trail
      • Law and Disorder Podcast
      • Positively Creative Summit
  • CONTACT
  • Resources
  • New Page