The Clothesline Project, consisting of some 620 shirts made by residents of the New River Valley to call attention to gender-based violence, will be on display on College Avenue in downtown Blacksburg between Draper Road and Main Street from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, and Wednesday, March 24.
Rain dates are March 30 and March 31.
Victims of violence and their friends or family members may share their stories by creating a T-shirt for the Clothesline Project anytime during March. Those interested in creating a shirt may contact Susan at anderson@vt.edu for more information or for a T-shirt kit with materials provided at no charge.
For the Clothesline Project, survivors of violence and friends and families of the victims of violence create shirts emblazoned with direct messages and strong illustrations. The shirts demonstrate the pain and suffering of the survivors, aid in their healing process, and celebrate their strength and courage in overcoming the past.
The shirts are hung side by side on a clothesline, as though the survivors are standing there themselves, shoulder to shoulder, bearing witness to the violence committed on a daily basis. The shirts are color coded: white for those who have died from violence; yellow or beige for survivors who have been battered or assaulted; red, pink, or orange for those raped or sexually assaulted; blue or green for survivors of incest or child sexual abuse; purple or lavender for those attacked because of their sexual orientation; and black for survivors handicapped by violence.
The local Clothesline Project was initiated in 1994 by the Montgomery County chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Local sponsors include Montgomery County NOW, the United Feminist Movement, the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech, and the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley.
