Mending Boston: Join the Memorial Quilting Project at the MIT Museum

Local artist Clara Wainwright leading a quilting session. Photo: Patrick D. Rosso

The night that MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was killed, artist and Cambridge resident Clara Wainwright was nearby, walking her dog. In the months that followed, Wainwright felt moved to begin a communal quilting project to bring together Boston residents and allow them to reflect on the tragedy, as reported in this Boston Globe story. The piece-in-progress is a 12'x4' fabric collage that depicts the Boston Marathon route as well as other city landmarks like Fenway Park and the Common.

Today at the MIT Museum, you too can contribute to the project, as Wainwright hosts a “Mending Boston” quilting session from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Bostonians are invited to attend and add their own details to the collage to “express their emotions about the 2013 marathon bombings while joining together to produce a beautiful visual work for others to share and build upon.” No sewing skills will be required, but attendees are encouraged to bring scraps of fabric or other materials that have personal or memorial value to them.

Wainwright has already reached out to the MIT police department for further details about Sean Collier so that she may incorporate those memories into the piece. She has also visited the neighborhoods and met with the friends of other bombing victims and plans to include their contributions in the collage as well.

“Mending Boston” is free with the cost of museum admission. The MIT Museum will display the final collage in September 2013.