My previous work as an urban planner made me acutely
aware of how big an impact the foreclosure crisis would have on our cities and towns throughout the
United States. However, very little was mentioned in the news.
It was important to me to present the whole story in a way
that would captivate people’s attention and make a memorable statement. Making
map quilts seemed an ironic solution. Quilts act as a functional memory, an
historical record of difficult times.It
is during times of hardship that people have traditionally made quilts, often
resorting to scraps of cloth when so poor they could not afford to waste a
single thread of fabric.
The neighborhoods shown are not an anomaly; they
are a recurring pattern seen from coast to coast, urban to suburban
neighborhoods across the US. The problem has not been solved, it is still
occurring, just changing shape, affecting more of us.
