The Clothesline Project: Gut-Wrenching Messages Are Voices of Abuse Victims
A UT Tyler student looks at the T-shirts from abuse victims on display in the UC Ballroom. The exhibit drew attention to types of abuse. Photo courtesy of Ashley Worley.
By ASHLEY WORLEY/Staff Writer
EDITOR’S NOTE: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Rows of T-shirts hung from clotheslines: a rainbow of colors. Each one is a story captured in paint, expressing the inexpressible. Some spoke through images, but most were words:
“What did I do?”
“I was just a child.”
“You were my best friend and you failed me.”
Elizabeth Caulkins, UT Tyler Title IX investigator, explains the significance of shirts representing abuse victims in the Clothesline Project that was on view in the UC Ballroom. Photo courtesy of Ashley Worley.
Abuse isn’t easy to talk about, but for those who’ve lived through it, breaking the silence is often a critical step toward healing. That’s what the Clothesline Project is all about.
From Oct. 2-4, about 75 T-shirts painted by survivors of assault were displayed on clotheslines in the UC ballroom. Each shirt was painted by a member of the UT Tyler community, and each color represented a specific type of violence.
“Everyone’s heard the phrase, ‘don’t air your dirty laundry,’” Title IX Coordinator Blake Bumbard said. “We don’t air our dirty secrets or our shameful hurts for the world to see. That’s kind of the significance of the Clothesline Project.”
The Clothesline Project is an international initiative hosted at UT Tyler by the Title IX office to visually display violence statistics and support survivors who might otherwise be left unseen. By bringing a traditionally undiscussed topic into the open air, the office hopes to dispel stigmas surrounding sexual assault and encourage those impacted to know they are seen.
A shirt on display at the Clothesline Project carries a message of an abuse victim. The display was on view in the UC to draw attention to abuse and helping victims Photo courtesy of Ashley Worley.
“One big thing with this project, other than painting the shirts themselves, is just feeling like you’re not alone and you’re among other people that understand,” Title IX Investigator Elizabeth Caulkins said. “It’s a very brave and courageous act to even paint a shirt. Whatever it
means to that person, they’re using that shirt for healing.”
Several students observing the gallery expressed surprise at the number of people in the UT Tyler community who had suffered.
“I didn’t expect to see so many colors,” student Victoria Mancilla said. “It’s comforting that a lot of people can connect and relate to it, but it’s sad that it’s something people have to relate to.”
And relate to it they do.
“That was me,” said another UT Tyler student while looking at yellow and gray shirts (which indicated domestic violence and verbal abuse). “And you go through all these people in the hallways… you never suspect anything.”
While the clotheslines are now packed away, the Title IX office continues to work on compiling photographs of the shirts into an online gallery on their website.
Every shirt gives voice to a broken piece of someone’s story and amplifies each person’s message of healing:
“I don’t fear you.”
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
“What is done is done. It is up to you to grow, learn, and love. Most of all … forgive.”