The Nest participates in The Clothesline Project

March 25, 2011 thenestlexington

Art and healing came together at The Nest this week when clients and staff members participated in The Clothesline Project.  The Clothesline Project began in 1990 in Massachusetts as a way to raise awareness about domestic violence. For the past eight years, Chrysalis House has brought the exhibit to Lexington.

“The Clothesline Project has empowered women (adults and teens) to tell their stories of how violence has impacted their lives,” says Tonya Jernigan, Domestic Violence Coordinator at Chrysalis House. “The use of art allows for healing and is an effective tool for consciousness raising surrounding issues of violence against women in the community.”

Survivors of domestic violence, as well as others touched by the problem, use T-shirts as a canvas for their feelings. The T-shirts are then displayed in a colorful and touching visual testament to suffering and survival.

Jernigan worked with Nest counselor Elizabeth Morton to bring the exhibit to the Nest. She also offered the chance to create T-shirts to participant’s in The Nest’s Relationship Recovery Workshop, a support group for victims of domestic violence. Morton says that in this group, women have not only been presented with strategies to use in moving forward but they’ve also made friendships that have helped them take some of the steps they need to change their lives.

Every year, women are killed by men who claim to love them. According to the Men’s Rape Prevention Project in Washington DC, 58,000 soldiers died in the Vietnam War. During that same period of time, 51,000 women were killed, primarily by spouses or boyfriends. In Kentucky, one in three women experience domestic violence, which can be between siblings as well as partners

The Clothesline has been displayed at other agencies in Lexington and will be at Take Back the Night on March 30, 2011 at the Courthouse Plaza.  The Clothesline is also traveling to Louisville in April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

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