Design Ignites Change - Projects

This project developed by Team Poverty, is one of six from the "stART now: change is central" mentoring program that unites Central High students and the University of Tennessee Design students in Knoxville, TN. Given its location, temperate climate and generosity of its citizens, Knoxville has a very large homeless population. On any given night in Knoxville, 900 people sleep in emergency shelters, on the street, in transitional housing or in cars. Over the course of a year here, it’s possible that 8,000 different people may experience homelessness.

Deborah Shmerler
The School of Art
dshmerle@utk.edu
865 974 3203

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October 5, 2009

As the pieces start to come together, opportunities to address composition and color were revealed.

Typographic elements were also added.

Students plan out ideas for the quilt design. Gloves and Pockets were added so that people could insert notes and prayers.

Intuitive sketches were encouraged.

Material for the Quilt was collected from students families.

The students wanted to work on a project together that would represents our connection to each other and underscore the importance of a sense of place. The making of a quilt, a rich southern tradition, is more profound for its process, than its product.

The process of quilting in this student group provides a theory for how to end homelessness: start with a dynamic sketch, empower others and use the tools that are readily available: intuition, common sense and imagination. Pockets were added where people could insert wishes, like the wailing wall in Jerusalem.

The Wishing Wall

University of Tennessee

Central High School

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