BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — A large, collaborative quilt created over nearly a year by incarcerated people and Brattleboro community members will go on public display in September, organizers said, showcasing an effort to use making and storytelling to build bridges across prison walls.
Craft as a means of expression
The project, titled “Fractured, Not Broken,” brought seven incarcerated quilters together with facilitators from Interaction: Youth Services & Restorative Justice between September 2025 and April 2026. The workshop was led by Marie-Pierre Py, a restorative justice practitioner who has run support groups at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield for about three years.
Py said she had observed that many men inside the facility were interested in participating in restorative circles but felt intimidated by the vulnerability those conversations require. Turning to quilting — a craft Py practices herself — provided an alternative, nonverbal path to reflect and share personal experience.
"Working with your hands and making art is therapeutic. It's a way to allow things to start moving, even if you don't have words for them yet,"
The finished piece is roughly 7 feet, 5 inches by 8 feet, 6 inches and features cyanotype impressions of flowers and leaves woven through the individual blocks made by each participating quilter. The quilt’s border incorporates the score of a composition, "Quilted Forest," written by Alli Cooper-Ellis, a University of Vermont student who assisted with research into conditions of life inside the prison.
Research ties and institutional partnership
The quilt is part of a broader partnership with the Prison Research and Innovation Network, which is gathering data about safety, transparency and accountability at the Springfield facility. The University of Vermont contributed to the effort by administering prison climate surveys to people incarcerated at the site.
Preliminary survey results cited by project organizers indicated that approximately 85% of respondents reported they did not feel prepared for reentry — a finding that underscores the project’s focus on creating opportunities for personal reflection and skill building while people are still inside.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Workshop period | Sept. 2025–Apr. 2026 |
| Quilt size | 7 ft. 5 in. × 8 ft. 6 in. |
| Survey finding | ~85% felt unprepared for reentry |
Voices from the makers
Organizers said incarcerated participants were not made available for interviews. However, one contributor offered an artist statement that described choosing imagery to convey his lived experience behind bars. In that note he likened his design to a long sea voyage and expressed readiness to return home and seek peace.
The collaborative process included contributions from community sewers in Brattleboro who worked with prison participants on design and assembly. A University of Vermont student’s musical composition became a structural element in the quilt’s border, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the project.
What comes next
Organizers plan a public exhibit of the quilt in September. The display will allow the broader community to see work born of this restorative-art program and to learn about the research findings that accompanied the initiative.
- Program combined restorative practice, artmaking and academic research.
- Quilt incorporates cyanotypes and a musical score as visual border.
- Project linked to prison climate surveys showing reentry concerns.
Advocates for restorative justice and arts programming say projects like this create nonthreatening avenues for people in custody to process experience and develop tangible skills. The Prison Research and Innovation Network and University of Vermont study components aim to document whether those activities affect perceptions of safety, transparency and preparedness for life after incarceration.
Details about the exhibit — including exact dates, location and any related programming or panels — were not provided by organizers in initial statements. Organizers asked visitors to watch for announcements from Interaction: Youth Services & Restorative Justice and project partners for scheduling and visitor information.
This project is part of a growing national interest in combining arts, restorative practices and research in correctional settings, seeking to understand and measure how creative engagement may influence both individual wellbeing and institutional climate.
Coverage from the University of Vermont and the Prison Research and Innovation Network accompanies the exhibition plan; organizers said they hope the quilt will function both as a work of art and a catalyst for conversation about rehabilitation, support services and reentry preparation.
