The Clothesline Project
First Exhibit: April 6th-10th in Social Sciences and Management (SSM) 106, UC Merced Art Gallery
Second Exhibit: April 20th- 24th in El Portal 110
The Clothesline Project is a powerful and interactive display that shares stories about sexual violence that are often left unspoken. Messages are written on T-shirts and hung together on a clothesline for our campus community to see, reflect, and stand in solidarity. Each shirt is created by a survivor, by someone who has a survivor in their life, or by someone who has lost a loved one to sexual violence.
This project is meant to raise awareness about the impact of sexual violence, honor the strength and resilience of survivors, and create a space where we can break the silence and support one another as a community.
The color of each shirt represents different experiences of harm. The colors of the T-shirts are as follows:
White represents someone who has died due to violence:
Yellow represents a survivor of physical assault or domestic violence
Red, Pink, and Orange represent a survivor of rape or childhood sexual abuse
Blue and Green represent a survivor of incest or childhood sexual abuse
Purple represents someone who was attacked because of their sexual orientation
Brown or Gray represents a survivor of emotional, spiritual, or verbal abuse
Black represents someone disabled due to an assault or someone who was assaulted because of their disability
