MANSFIELD — Evie Andree didn’t enjoy embroidery the first time they tried it.
“I almost gave up, but I didn’t,” said Andree, who identifies as nonbinary. “It ended up being very therapeutic. I get overwhelmed a lot, so the embroidering helped me stay calm.”
Andree was one of several local high school students who worked the project, entitled ‘Quilt of Strength.’ It will be displayed at Mansfield Pride this weekend.
The students crafted the quilt during their meetings at Love on a Mission (LOAM), a non-profit that offers programming and support for LGBTQIA youth ages 12 to 18.
After the festival, the 5-by-5-foot Quilt of Strength will be on display at varying sites throughout the community. In November, LOAM will auctioned off the quilt and a custom quilt rack at its annual fundraiser gala.
The quilt is LOAM’s second group art project funded by the Richland County Foundation’s Summertime Kids grant. Debra Weaver, LOAM’s board president, wrote the grant proposal for the project.
Victoria Hoefler, a local art teacher, started with teaching students the basic techniques of embroidering, beadwork and fabric painting.
“At first they really weren’t sure they wanted do this. They really weren’t sure that they could,” Hoefler said. “But you will see a little bit of each of them in this quilt.”
Each student got to pick out fabric and design their own squares. The final product is a mishmash of colors, patterns and messages of hope and affirmation.
Deena Hamilton, LOAM’s founder and executive director, said art projects like the quilt offer students a chance to express themselves.
“A lot of it was just what they identify with or what makes them happy or something about themselves,” she said.
“I think in society, it’s hard for them to express themselves because they feel like an outcast or not part of the community.”
Andree embroidered a tiny platypus on one of the squares. They also added a tiger design created as digital art on their tablet.
“I like the craziness (of the quilt) because it kind of embodies what Love on a Mission is,” Andree said.
Hamilton said the project represents both individuality and unity at the same time.
“All of us together creates that knitted family,” Hamilton said.
For volunteer Alex Moody, LOAM provided a community when he desperately needed one. Moody moved to Mansfield halfway through high school. Now 19 and a student at Kent State University, he said LOAM helped him make friends who accepted him for who he was.
“I’m a gay trans man and there aren’t a lot of spaces around rural, suburban Ohio that are super accepting,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of spaces for people like me to feel comfortable.”
Last year’s Summertime Kids-funded project, a mosaic entitled Rooted in Equality, is on display at the Richland Academy of the Arts.
Love on a Mission meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. For more information, visit loveonamission.org.