They are our daughters, our sisters

Pinch me. I still cannot believe that my quilt "They are our daughters, our sisters" will be included in the exhibit "Rastros y Cronicas: Women of Juarez" at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago (1852 W 19th St) from October 16, 2009 - February 14, 2010. I began making this quilt after being asked to teach a class based on what is happening to young women in Juarez, Mexico. The quilt was made over several months as I read articles and books, watched videos and frankly cried. When I lived in Texas (1994-1998), I had read articles that would occasionally pop up in the newspaper about the women being tortured, raped and killed in Juarez and like many things that we read, it passes from our mind. I was surprised to hear that women were still being killed. Since 1993, more than 500 women have been killed in Ciudad Juarez in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua (just over the border from El Paso, Texas). My piece was not planned but evolved. It was important to me to have a cross for every women (girls since the youngest is 10) that has died. It is important for me that it compels the viewer to comprehend and sympathize with what the victims endured and what the loved ones who are left behind continue to face. We must not forget or ignore the loss because we are all connected.