From the Field

Sixteen Karen students – most from camps along the Thai-Burma border and all now part of Omaha Public Schools’ ESL/Refugee and Migrant Education program – participated in a five-day quilt workshop at Joslyn Art Museum during National Welcoming Week, a time focused on bringing people together in a spirit of unity and friendship. Guided by volunteer quilters, each teen created two squares – a memory of their homeland and a dream for their future – to contribute to a “Dreams and Memories” story quilt. Students and families will return to celebrate when the finished quilt hangs at the Museum in February 2015. Part of The Quilted Conscience project created by John Sorenson (whose documentary film of the same name captured the making of a quilt by Sudanese teens, a master quilter, and a quilt guild in Grand Island, NE), the unveiling of Joslyn’s piece will coincide with a multi-venue display including the original project quilt and “Newcomer” quilts made by children from around the world who now call Nebraska home. 

More information on education and community programming at the Joslyn Art Museum is available here.

Image of Joslyn Art Museum quilt workshop courtesy of the Joslyn Art Museum.