Fabric Memorial

by Jo-Ann Morgan

artist Reception:
Thursday, September 4, 2025
from 5:30 - 7:00 pm

Artist Statement:

My artwork evolved out of a convergence of global, personal, and national events. By March 2020 the coronavirus had become a worldwide pandemic. Confined and seeking a time-intensive activity, I bought a sewing machine and commenced learning to use it. Breonna Taylor was killed by police that same month, as was George Floyd shortly thereafter, expanding the movement known as Black Lives Matter. These and other national events became subject matter for my artwork.
I use the techniques of machine quilting with applique’ to construct compositions in layered cotton fabric. The medium resembles quilted comforters making it familiar and approachable. As such, I find it ideal for addressing provocative topics related to social justice and inequality.
I first created a female figure whom I called Nuestra Dama de la Corona (Lady Corona). She was intended to be a comforting presence, not unlike a deity or favorite doll, to offer respite and hope within scenarios that brought attention to social inequality. I was inspired by syncretic traditions of Mexican folk saints, especially Santa Muerte, a skeletal presence who serves a need among less affluent subcultures. In a nod to the coronavirus, my figure wears a mask, gloves, and a crown (La Corona). In various artwork Lady Corona offers comfort to children at the US/ Mexico border, joins Black Lives Matter demonstrations, pays tribute to people who have passed, and remembers victims of violence.
I consider my artmaking to be a form of activism. My most recent work is a series of fabric pieces memorializing the nineteen children killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The artworks celebrate the lives of these ten-year-old victims and are meant to evoke our collective outrage at ineffectual gun laws.

This exhibit is FREE, and the public is encouraged to attend.

This exhibit will be on display until September 4, 2025.