Brightly colored shirts hung pinned to a clothesline in the Student Union atrium earlier this month. They lined up against the glass bannisters on the second floor, each emblazoned with a different phrase, ranging from beautiful affirmations like “You are more than any insults” to stunning proclamations like “I’m Beating Abuse & Pain With A Smile On My Face!”
This April, MTSU saw the traditional return of the Clothesline Project, an installation that fuses art and trauma in creative expression. Since 2015, the June Anderson Center for Women and Non-Traditional Students partners with several local organizations to host events for Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month.
According to the organization’s official website, the Clothesline Project started in Hyannis, Massachusetts, in 1990. A member of local activist group the Cape Cod’s Women’s Defense Agenda found out that while 58,000 U.S. soldiers had died by the end of the Vietnam War, 51,000 US women were murdered by their male partners during the same timeframe.
This encouraged the group to create a program that would spread awareness of this abuse. One of the women from the CCWDA, Rachel Carey-Harper, devised designated colored t-shirts with messages depicting overcoming abuse, whether it be a direct call to action or reassuring words to help comfort victims.
A white shirt signifies a person who died from violence. Yellow depicts a survivor of physical assault or domestic violence. Brown and gray symbolize survivors of emotional, spiritual or verbal abuse. On these colored t-shirts, anyone who chooses to represent their specific trauma can write an exclamation, a reclamation of autonomy or a beautiful statement about staying strong — this project can help a person share their trauma and show other victims they’re not alone.
Over 30 years later, after starting a large display of these t-shirts at Utah Valley University, The Clothesline Project remains a strong presence every April because of the simple yet effective nature of creating blatant signs of strength and comfort from regular t-shirts. Universities, groups and outlets all over the U.S. have adopted this project for their own events, as have international groups as far as Canada and New Zealand.
“The Clothesline Project is a passive way for students, faculty, and staff to show their support and recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness,” said Maigan Wipfli, director of the June Anderson Center for Women and Non-Tradional Students at MTSU.
Wipfli has helped head the Clothesline Project since the start of her tenure in 2020.
This continues to be a very powerful way to get people to become involved in the creation of stories and messages of hope, Wipfli said.
Every first week of April, the Clothesline Project appears in the atrium and cannot be missed upon first viewing. The shirts are colorful, loud and easy to spot. All are created to show that a semblance of hope is always there, no matter how much pain one feels. And that’s a beautiful thing, even with pain at the center.
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