Growth, Impact & Celebration
- visionquilt
- Jun 20
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 5
Dear Vision Quilt Community,
As we step into 2025, we want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to each of you—our supporters, partners, artists, educators, and advocates—who have been instrumental in our journey. Your dedication has fueled our mission to prevent gun violence through art, education, and dialogue.
This year has already been filled with growth and impact. We’re excited to share that we’ve launched a new and improved Vision Quilt website, designed to showcase our work better, provide more accessible resources, and connect with our growing community. Additionally, our team is expanding, bringing in new voices and talent to further our reach and strengthen our programs.
In this newsletter, we’ll share updates on our initiatives, upcoming events, and ways you can continue to be a part of this movement. Thank you for standing with us—together, we are creating a future where every voice matters and every vision for change is seen.
With gratitude, The Vision Quilt Team
MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT
THE GROWING VISION QUILT
This month, we highlight a powerful Vision Quilt panel created by Helen Wilbur, an art therapy graduate student at Lewis & Clark College. As one of Vision Quilt’s newest trainers, Helen is leading workshops that inspire healing and dialogue through art, engaging college students and community members in the fight against gun violence.
ADDRESSING GUN VIOLENCE EXHIBIT:
Over three months, 150 eighth-grade students from Lighthouse and Lodestar Public Charter Schools in East Oakland participated in a transformative educational journey. In partnership with Vision Quilt, these young changemakers studied the root causes of gun violence through an interdisciplinary curriculum that included humanities, math, science, and visual art.
Their hard work culminated in a moving public exhibition held March 26–28, where students showcased their Vision Quilt panels, research, and community-based solutions. The event featured data analysis, storytelling, and powerful artistic expression—offering a bold vision for what safe, equitable neighborhoods can look like when youth are empowered to lead.
NEWS & UPDATES
Empowering 8th Graders Through Art & Dialogue
We’re excited to be working with 8th-grade students at Lighthouse and Lodestar Charter Schools in Oakland, CA!
Through our Addressing Gun Violence curriculum, students are using art to express their voices, process experiences, and create powerful Vision Quilt panels. These young changemakers are exploring social-emotional learning, community resilience, and the role of creative activism in preventing violence.
Stay tuned for their impactful artwork—coming soon to our exhibitions and digital quilt!
Want to bring Vision Quilt to your school? Contact us for more information.
PORTLAND ARTISTS & ACTIVISTS ENGAGE IN VISION QUILT WORK
Art for Social Change members from Lewis and Clark College were trained in the Vision Quilt curriculum and offered inspiring workshops to their college colleagues and the Portland community. Many of the facilitators were Art Therapy faculty and graduate students. The training emphasized self care during these challenging times as well as an opportunity to create art amplifying their voices and calls to action
THE GROWING VISION QUILT
PANEL OF THE MONTH
ART, ACTIVISM & COMMUNITY IMPACT
Black history is more than a month—it’s a continuous journey of resilience, creativity, and progress that deserves recognition all year long. At Vision Quilt, we are committed to uplifting Black voices, especially those using art to spark change and advocate for safer communities. Through our work, we celebrate the powerful contributions of Black artists, activists, and youth who continue to inspire and lead the movement for a brighter future. Let’s keep learning, honoring, and taking action together—because Black history is history, every day.
ART & MEDIA CORNER
Explore the New Vision Quilt Website!
We’re excited to announce the launch of our newly updated Vision Quilt website—designed to make it easier than ever to access resources, explore powerful student artwork, and engage with our mission.
What’s New? Improved Navigation – Find toolkits, curriculum materials, and impact stories with ease. Enhanced Digital Quilt – Explore Vision Quilt panels in a dynamic, interactive way. More Ways to Get Involved – Learn how to bring Vision Quilt to your school or community.
This refreshed platform reflects our commitment to expanding access to trauma-informed, art-based solutions to gun violence. We invite you to explore, share, and be part of this growing movement.
The Power of Art in Challenging Times
In moments of uncertainty, grief, and struggle, art becomes more than just a form of expression—it becomes a lifeline. Throughout history, individuals and communities have turned to creativity to process pain, advocate for change, and envision a better future. At Vision Quilt, we see this power firsthand as young people use art to transform their lived experiences into bold statements of resilience, hope, and activism.
Art as Advocacy
Throughout history, art has been a catalyst for social change. From the murals of the Civil Rights Movement to contemporary protest art, creativity has the ability to amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard. At Vision Quilt, our students use their panels to start conversations about violence, safety, and justice—sparking dialogue in classrooms, community centers, and exhibitions nationwide.
THE AGV TOOLKIT
Creating Visionaries, Storytellers, and Community Activists Addressing Gun Violence
The trauma-informed curriculum is free for educators, community centers and museums to use and/or adopt to their students and communities nationwide. We believe this curriculum is a key solution to the escalation of gun violence in our country and to addressing the trauma youth, teachers and families are experiencing all too frequently.
Vision Quilt is expanding its capacity to meet the growing need for our mission, and we are deeply grateful for your support in enabling and encouraging our continued work through your generous donations.
Our mission is to harness the power of art and community voice to
create real change against gun violence in our neighborhoods.
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