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Teal Quilt Project
The Teal Quilt Project was started as a community-engaged arts project to demonstrate care and concern for the children and young adults who are victims of sexual abuse, to help raise awareness about child abuse, and to foster a safer and supportive community.
The Teal Quilt Project was started as a community-engaged arts project to demonstrate care and concern for the children and young adults who are victims of sexual abuse, to help raise awareness about child abuse, and to foster a safer and supportive community.
On September 12, 2016, The Indianapolis Star reported that Rachael Denhollander, a former gymnast who became a lawyer and a coach, had been molested as a child by the now disgraced and jailed Lawrence G. Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics national team doctor and osteopathic physician at Michigan State University (MSU) (Evans, Alesia and Kwiatowski, 2016). Though not the first to have registered complaints about Nassar, Denhollander was the first to have her complaint publicly acknowledged. By early 2018, scores of former and current female athletes, including those at MSU, Olympians, and members of the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team, had come forward with stories of their sexual abuse by Nassar. During the court proceedings in January 2018 to determine Nassar’s plea-bargain and sentencing, the presiding judge, Rosemarie Aquilina, demanded that victim impact statements be allowed in court and that they be televised.1 On January 16, the first survivor stepped to the microphone, faced cameras and began her testimony and by January 24, 156 testimonies had been delivered; Denhollander’s statement was the last.2 The spectacle of these wrenching testimonies by victims told publicly in court before friends, family members, supporters, and fellow victims, with the perpetrator present, and knowing that the televised statements were reaching millions of viewers, was profoundly sad and disturbing. Their testimonies immediately reverberated through multiple communities – especially among other survivors of abuse, members of the university community and its surrounding region, and those affiliated with the sports organizations in which Nassar was employed. MSU faculty, staff, students, and alumni as well as neighbours, family members, teammates, and friends of the victims grappled with guilt, anger, anguish, and a feeling of both helplessness and need to help. What could we do to creatively and positively promote healing and well-being – for the victims, for ourselves, and for our communities?
The Teal Quilt Project was initiated almost immediately in the wake of the 2018 trial by three individuals – Beth Donaldson, Clare Luz, and Marsha MacDowell – who knew that making and receiving quilts can be powerful healing actions. They sought out three primary organizations as partners – Country Stitches quilt shop, the Capitol City Quilt Guild (of which Donaldson was a member) and Small Talk, a Lansing, Michigan based center, that services the needs of children and families healing from sexual abuse in Mid-Michigan. With mainly word of mouth and a Facebook page used to recruit quiltmakers, they sought to make one quilt for each of the 400+ young women known to have been abused by Nassar. Because teal is the color that is often used to represents sexual assault awareness, the project was named the Teal Quilt Project.
Individuals and groups in Michigan and across the United States made quilts. Makers included faculty, students, staff, and alumni of Michigan State University, but they also included scores of individuals and groups who just wanted to positively contribute to the healing. Some made one quilt, others made several. Sometimes a top was made by one person and quilted by another. Some donated fabric and quilting. When asked one question about why they were involved, many expressed the desire to let the survivors know that others care. A number of individuals said simply “Me Too.” Donaldson took photographs of each quilt submitted and documented the quilts for inclusion in the Quilt Index.
By February 2019, the goal of 400 quilts was met. In December 2022, the Parents of Sister Survivors Engage (POSSE) assumed responsibility for the project and continue to solicit and place quilts in the hands of individuals who need comforting. See Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tealquiltproject.
- Marsha MacDowell, July 2022
1The term “victim statement” was the one used by the judge and the court.
2 “Survivor” is the term preferred by those who were abused. Unless the term victim is a direct quote, survivor will be used henceforth in this article.
On September 12, 2016, The Indianapolis Star reported that Rachael Denhollander, a former gymnast who became a lawyer and a coach, had been molested as a child by the now disgraced and jailed Lawrence G. Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics national team doctor and osteopathic physician at Michigan State University (MSU) (Evans, Alesia and Kwiatowski, 2016). Though not the first to have registered complaints about Nassar, Denhollander was the first to have her complaint publicly acknowledged. By early 2018, scores of former and current female athletes, including those at MSU, Olympians, and members of the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team, had come forward with stories of their sexual abuse by Nassar. During the court proceedings in January 2018 to determine Nassar’s plea-bargain and sentencing, the presiding judge, Rosemarie Aquilina, demanded that victim impact statements be allowed in court and that they be televised.1 On January 16, the first survivor stepped to the microphone, faced cameras and began her testimony and by January 24, 156 testimonies had been delivered; Denhollander’s statement was the last.2 The spectacle of these wrenching testimonies by victims told publicly in court before friends, family members, supporters, and fellow victims, with the perpetrator present, and knowing that the televised statements were reaching millions of viewers, was profoundly sad and disturbing. Their testimonies immediately reverberated through multiple communities – especially among other survivors of abuse, members of the university community and its surrounding region, and those affiliated with the sports organizations in which Nassar was employed. MSU faculty, staff, students, and alumni as well as neighbours, family members, teammates, and friends of the victims grappled with guilt, anger, anguish, and a feeling of both helplessness and need to help. What could we do to creatively and positively promote healing and well-being – for the victims, for ourselves, and for our communities?
The Teal Quilt Project was initiated almost immediately in the wake of the 2018 trial by three individuals – Beth Donaldson, Clare Luz, and Marsha MacDowell – who knew that making and receiving quilts can be powerful healing actions. They sought out three primary organizations as partners – Country Stitches quilt shop, the Capitol City Quilt Guild (of which Donaldson was a member) and Small Talk, a Lansing, Michigan based center, that services the needs of children and families healing from sexual abuse in Mid-Michigan. With mainly word of mouth and a Facebook page used to recruit quiltmakers, they sought to make one quilt for each of the 400+ young women known to have been abused by Nassar. Because teal is the color that is often used to represents sexual assault awareness, the project was named the Teal Quilt Project.

Marsha MacDowell (left) and Beth Donaldson (right) welcome community members to the Broad Art Museum Lab on April 8, 2019.

East Lansing Community members send healing messages by signing at quilt top for The Teal Quilt Project at the Broad Art Museum Labe, April 8, 2019
By February 2019, the goal of 400 quilts was met. In December 2022, the Parents of Sister Survivors Engage (POSSE) assumed responsibility for the project and continue to solicit and place quilts in the hands of individuals who need comforting. See Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tealquiltproject.
- Marsha MacDowell, July 2022
1The term “victim statement” was the one used by the judge and the court.
2 “Survivor” is the term preferred by those who were abused. Unless the term victim is a direct quote, survivor will be used henceforth in this article.
View all records in this project
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Documentation Project
Quilts and Health Michigan State University
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Author; Designer; Owner; Quiltmaker
Donaldson, Beth Michigan Quilt Project
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Author; Interviewer; Owner; Quiltmaker
MacDowell, Marsha Michigan State University Museum