Press and Past Exhibits
CURRENT EXHIBIT
September 9, 2025 - September 30, 2026: Los Desconocidos: The Migrant Quilt Project
Arizona Heritage Center, Tempe Arizona
UPCOMING EXHIBITS
Spring 2026: Western New Mexico University, Silver City, NM
PAST EXHIBITS
2024
February - May 2024: Clay County Heritage Center, Spencer, IA
2023
November 2023 - January 2024: Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, IA
September - November 2023: Witter Gallery, Storm Lake, IA
June - August 2023: German American Heritage Center, Davenport, IA
March - May 2023: Luther College Camps Union Art Gallery, Decorah, IA
2022
January 2022-January 2023: Arizona History Museum, Tucson AZ
2021
August -December 2021:Trying to Make Sense of It: 9/11, Loss, and Memorial Quilts, International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, NE
2020
November 2020 - February 2021: Radical Tradition: Quilts and Social Change, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
January - March 2020: The Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2019
January 2019: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
February - April 2019: Broken Threads, Lives Unraveled: Fuentes Rojas and the Migrant Quilt Project, University of Arizona Poetry Center, Tucson, AZ
March - June 2019: Los Desconocidos, International Quilt Study Center & Museum, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
May - July 2019: Migrant Quilts Exhibit, Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Chandler, AZ
August - September 2019: Migrant Quilts Exhibit, Indiana Interchurch Center and St. Peter’s UCC, Indianapolis, IN
October - December, 2019: Migrant Quilt Project, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Washington, D.C.
2018
January 2018: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
September 2017 – February 2018: Quilts and Human Rights, Pick Museum of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL
February 2018 : What the Eye Doesn’t See Doesn’t Move the Heart: Migrant Quilts of the Southern Arizona Borderlands, Pimeria Alta Historical Society & Museum, Nogales, AZ
March 2018: St. Francis in the Valley Episcopal Church, Green Valley, AZ
May – July 2018: Beyond the Border Wall: The Migrant Quilt Project, New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA
August – September 2018: Loutit District Library, Grand Haven, MI
September – October 2018: Urban Edge Gallery, Waukegan Arts Council, Waukegan, IL
November – December 2018: Brown Popular Culture Library, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
2017
January 2017: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
March – April 2017: Amado Unitarian Universalist Church, Amado, AZ
June-July 2017: Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church, Sierra Vista, AZ
August – September 2017: What the Eye Doesn’t See Doesn’t Move the Heart: Migrant Quilts of the Southern Arizona Borderlands, Tempe History Museum, Tempe, AZ
October – November, 2017: Día de los Muertos exhibit, Episcopal Church of the Apostles, Oro Valley AZ
November 2017: Día de los Muertos exhibit, Arizona History Museum, AZ
2016
January 2016: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
September 2016: American Quilt Study Group Seminar, Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, AZ
October 2016: Activist Quilters and the Migrant Quilt Project symposium, Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
November 2016: Día de los Muertos exhibit, Episcopal Church of Apostles, Oro Valley, AZ
2015
January 2015: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
November - December 2015: Adult Forum Discussion on Immigration, United Church of Christ, Santa Fe, NM
December 2015: Celebrating our Call to Life and Mercy art exhibit, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Tucson, AZ
2014
January 2014: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
November 2014: All Souls Day exhibit, Mercado San Agustin, Tucson, AZ
November-December 2014: The Documented Border exhibit, University of Arizona Library, Tucson, AZ
2013
January 2013: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
May 2013: Oracle Artists Studio Tour, Triangle L Ranch, Oracle, AZ
2012
January 2012: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
June - July 2012, Immigration Conference, United Church of Christ Church, Bethesda, MD
October 2012: Quilts Making a Difference exhibit, Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival, Tucson, AZ
2011
January 2011: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
2010
January 2010: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
November 2010: Crossing Boundaries, Zuzi Theater, Tucson, AZ
2009
January 2009: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
2008
January 2008: Border Issues Fair, The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, Sahuarita, AZ
February 2008: Tucson Peace Fair, Reid Park, Tucson, AZ
2007
February 2007: Tucson Peace Fair, Reid Park, Tucson, AZ
Press
“Historical society to preserve quilts dedicated to migrants who died crossing into Arizonaby Henry Bean, Arizona Daily Star, February 1, 2021. https://tucson.com/news/local/historical-society-to-preserve-quilts-dedicated-to-migrants-who-died-crossing-into-arizona/article_101952bb-8561-5210-8419-09844a046285.html
“The Dead Must be Counted,” by Gabriella Soto. Sapiens, August 18, 2020.
https://www.sapiens.org/culture/migrant-death-counts/
Craft in America’s Quilts on PBS : https://www.craftinamerica.org/episode/quilts
“The Migrant Quilt Project,” Suzanne’s Fancy, Column #242, by Suzanne Labry, Quilts.com. http://www.quilts.com/sfancy/index.html
“Migrant Quilt Project Personifies Border Issues, by Andrea Denning, Artbeat Magazine,, July 1, 2019. http://www.artbeatmagazine.com/migrant-quilt-project-personifies-border-issues/?fbclid=IwAR0MivANYsUHGr4gNwunJs1Ol6iZfDszsj_cq_RrpHHQbIWM-AT7S-zN4BU
“Lincoln quilt exhibition pieces together story of thousands of migrants lost at southern border,” by Blake Ursch, Omaha World-Herald, May 8, 2019. https://www.omaha.com/living/lincoln-quilt-exhibition-pieces-together-story-of-thousands-of-migrants/article_022d31da-fb32-5028-8526-b3e986cd74cd.html
“This dire Thanksgiving, we still have marvels to be grateful for,” by the Editorial Board, Washington Post, Nov. 21, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-dire-thanksgiving-we-still-have-marvels-to-be-grateful-for/2018/11/21/1ab952ee-ed04-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html?fbclid=IwAR1bcDIndp_IShZkOmhRocssJOrxHLIet_2Sn7IvgZNRLhCnxA2vdSfUC1E&utm_term=.02a3b9684423
“Quilts memorialize migrants who die seeking refuge in the United States,” by David Dupont, BG Independent News (Bowling Green, OH), Nov. 15, 2018. http://bgindependentmedia.org/quilts-memorialize-migrants-who-die-seeking-refuge-in-the-united-states/?fbclid=IwAR1kXu3nbLNrt3iXdNfRMZxE6GiDgvXSARuk7l8LIUt2mR4OreundQTMHeI
“As the immigration debate rages, she quietly counts the dead along the border — and memorializes them with quilts,” by Cathy Free, Washington Post, Oct. 31, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2018/10/31/immigration-debate-rages-she-quietly-counts-dead-along-border-memorializes-them-with-quilts/?fbclid=IwAR3owupAqh3zFEK1AAJOXXzmJfcUT6P6AvgdlXt4TkhD8FUEXvBmjwMm0C8&utm_term=.3b92949273b2
“Migrants Who Died Crossing U.S.-Mexico Border Honored With Haunting Tribute: Hundreds die trying to cross the desert each year,” by Lauren Rearick, Huffington Post, Sept. 26, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/migrant-quilt-project-border-deaths_us_5baa2816e4b0181540e06f17?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
“Migrant Quilt Project Founder, Jody Ipsen, Tells the Stories of Migrants Who Died in the Tucson Sector,” recorded by David Motley, Waukegan Arts Council, Waukegan, Illinois. Sept. 14, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8dRfP8_hdM&feature=youtu.be
“A Cousin’s Name on a Work of Art Puts a Human Face on Migrant Deaths,” by Dan Moran, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 19, 2018. http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/opinion/ct-lns-moran-migrant-quilt-project-waukegan-connection-st-0919-story.html
“Quilt exhibit in Waukegan Memorializes Immigrants Who Die ‘Trying to Find a Better Life.'” by Yadira Sanchez, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 14, 2018. http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/news/ct-lns-migrant-quilt-project-st-0915-story.html
“Sewing the Names — A poem for the Lives Honored in the Migrant Quilt Project,” by Rob Van Abbema. Spirited Thinking: A creative look at spirit, science, and being human. http://spirited-thinking.com/2018/08/25/sewing-names-poem-lives-honored-migrant-quilt-project
“With Paint and Patchwork, Artists Offer a New Perspective on Immigration,” by Donna Bryson. Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2018. https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2018/0717/Immigration-debate-appears-in-the-art-world
“The Migrant Quilt,” by Valarie Lee James. Kosmos Journal, Summer 2018. https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/the-migrant-quilt/
“The Migrant Quilt Project: Stitching Compassion and Change,” by Mary Fons. QuiltFolk, Issue 06, 2018. pp. 98-111.
Video feature about the Migrant Quilt Project’s exhibition at the Pimeria Alta Historical Museum in Nogales, Arizona. February 11 &12, 2018. https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/quilts-honor-migrants-who-died-while-crossing-the-border
“Quilts honoring migrants come to Nogales museum,” by Kendal Blust. Nogales International, January 30, 2018. https://migrantquiltproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Nogales-exhibit.html
“The Migrant Quilt Project Remembers Lives Lost Along the U.S.-Mexico Border,” by Katherine Davis-Young. Atlas Obscura, November 27, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/migrant-quilt-project-border-tucson-arizona-mexico
Video about the Migrant Quilt Project by Al Jazeera! http://share.ajplus.net/shared/36014
“How Arizona Artists Are Using Quilts in the Border Debate,” by Lynn Trimble. Phoenix New Times, September 21, 2017. https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/arizona-migrant-quilt-project-9705139
“Migrant Quilt Project raises awareness of migrant deaths through tangible message,” by Angela Martinez. Daily Wildcat, April 22, 2017. www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2017/04/migrant-quilt-project-raises-awareness-of-migrant-deaths-through-tangible-message
“Migrant memorials: Quilts honor migrants who died in the Arizona desert,” by Kendal Blust. Arizona Daily Star, January 5, 2017. http://tucson.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/migrant-memorials-quilts-honor-migrants-who-died-in-the-arizona/article_4d863933-be96-56ea-9f86-972068698253.html
“Quilt project remembers border crossers,” by Ellen Sussman. Special to the Green Valley News, March 15, 2017. http://www.gvnews.com/news/quilt-project-remembers-border-crossers/article_d9a8aaec-0999-11e7-bf14-2b7a2df9c509.html
Church News: Week of June 10, 2017. Daily Courier. https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/jun/10/church-news-week-june-10-2017/
Quilting the Migrant Trail: Rhetorical Text(iles) and Rehumanizing Narratives, PhD dissertation by Sonia Christine Arellano. University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625387
McDowell, Marsha, Mary Worrall, Lynne Swanson, and Beth Donaldson. Quilts and Human Rights. 2016: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 48 and 51.
“What the Eye Doesn’t See Doesn’t Move the Heart: Migrant Quilts of Southern Arizona,” by Peggy J. Hazard. Uncoverings 2016, Vol. 37 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Lynne Zacek Bassett.
“Confluencenter Awards Funding to Projects of New Fellows, The UA’s Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry has named its 2016-2017 Graduate Fellowships cohort of nine students,” by Jamie Manser, UA Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry. UA News, June 2, 2016. https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/confluencenter-awards-funding-projects-new-fellows
“Fabric of Our Lives: Quilts with powerful messages are on display at Tucson Meet Yourself,” by Margaret Regan. Tucson Weekly, October 11. 2012. https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/fabric-of-our-lives/Content?oid=3546785
School of the Americas Watch Convergence at the Mexico/US Border: The Migrant Quilt Project