Karen Ferrer-Muniz had been staring at the sparsely decorated walls of the Unity Room, wracking her brain for good decor ideas that would reflect the significance of the space.
After tossing idea after idea into the proverbial wastebasket, Ferrer-Muniz, director of multicultural affairs and campus diversity, found a muse in an unexpected place.
“Judy Gordon of the campus career center sent me an e-mail, sharing a song about a quilt,” Ferrer-Muniz said. “That somehow got me thinking about hanging something homey and something warm in the Unity Room, but I needed a purpose for this quilt I wanted to make.”
That purpose turned out to be Union’s 215th birthday in 2010, which she wants to celebrate by inviting students, faculty, staff and alumni to donate pieces of fabric. On each swath of cloth she gets, Ferrer-Muniz would like to see a little piece of the giver’s own history.
“One of the most important things is that we all come to Union and bring our family histories with us – our diversity goes beyond skin color, religion and gender,” she said. “We all have something to offer that reminds us of home, whether it’s a recipe, a song, a family crest, or a picture ironed on to the fabric.”
“A quilt with fabric from different people is the perfect analogy of what Union is going through and what we want Union to be,” Ferrer-Muniz continued. “Union is a little piece of everything, so why not make a quilt?”
Starting in January, Ferrer-Muniz will be accepting fabric pieces that measure 18 inches-by-18 inches, or already-made patches measuring 12 inches-by-12-inches. For those people who want to make a square, but don’t know how to quilt, lessons will be given on campus throughout 2009.
In 2010, Ferrer-Muniz expects to hang one large quilt in the Unity Room in the Reamer Campus Center, and hang several smaller ones in other notable places around campus.
“I hope people will give little pieces of fabric, and leave little pieces of themselves behind in the quilt,” she said. “I think this is going to be something awesome to keep for years and years and years.”
For more information, contact Ferrer-Muniz at ferrermk@union.edu.