Public Art Therapy as Advocacy for Victims of Domestic Violence

A strikingly simple, yet effective, protest took place on EKU's campus Wednesday night in the form of art therapy for its participants. As part of "Take Back the Night," EKU women, organized by Melissa Dunn, participated in the Clothesline Project.

This from Cathy Malchiodi in Psychology Today:

The tradition of art as a voice for domestic violence survivors has spawned a number of well-known programs, including the Clothesline Project, a project to address violence against women. In 1990, visual artist Rachel Carey-Harper, inspired by the AIDS quilt, presented the concept of using shirts hanging on a clothesline as a way to raise consciousness. Since doing the laundry was always considered women's work and women often exchanged information over backyard fences while hanging their clothes out to dry, the concept of the clothesline became the vehicle. Each year thousands of women now tell their stories of survival—and commemorate victims who died from domestic violence—by using words and/or artwork to decorate a t-shirt to be exhibited on a clothesline. And programs such as A Window Between Worlds in Venice, CA, serve as models for how art helps both women and children develop a sense of hope, possibility, and safety.