Bringing together communities through quilt-making.

Friends of Chakchiuma Swamp was awarded a Mississippi Arts Commission Mini-Grant to bring quilt artist, Yolande Van Heerden to Grenada to create a 10ft x 10ft swamp-themed quilt with the help of many hands. Community volunteers of all ages participated in a series of workshops in January and February 2020.

Through a grant from ArtPlace Mississippi Yolande made a community quilt with 10 students from St. Francis of Assisi School from third to sixth grade. The students learned machine sewing as well as hand quilting and it was such a sweet project. The quilt was displayed at ArtPlace before being given to the school.

Yolande spearheaded a project with The Museum of the Mississippi Delta to create a quilt made of worn cotton blue jeans in conjunction with the traveling exhibit “Power of Children: Making a Difference.” Volunteers met twice a week to create patches with themes and symbols related to Greenwood. The individual denim blocks addressed topics related to personal and social struggles. Creating the quilt was intended to foster understanding and empathy across the community.