'Esme Kenney Memorial Quilt Show' Will Be Featured in Park National Bank Art Gallery

The Esme Kenney Memorial Quilt Show will be featured in the Park National Bank Art Gallery at UC Clermont College from February 25 – March 22.

An opening reception along with the YWCA “Clothesline Project” -- where attendees can make a t-shirt in support of the project -- will be held in the Park National Bank Art Gallery on Tuesday, February 28 from 12:30 – 2 p.m. and from 2 – 3 p.m. in the Snyder Building, Room S142.  There will be a film and panel discussion with Cara Good, YWCA Eastern Area Services Director, and Lisa Siders-Kenney, adjunct professor of fine arts and Wanda McCarthy, associate professor of psychology at UC Clermont College, to help raise awareness of violence against women.

Siders-Kenney is a well-known Cincinnati based artist and quilt maker.  This exhibit sprang from a deep well of grief, as she returned to her artistic work in the wake of the murder of her beloved daughter, Esme.

On March 7, 2009, just weeks after her 13th birthday, Esme Louise Kenney was abducted and killed while jogging near her home by a known murderer and sex offender.  Shortly after Esme’s murder, Lisa’s friend and former employer, Becky Hancock of St. Theresa’s Textile Trove, sent out a call for entries for the “The Esme Kenney Memorial Quilt.”

Outraged by this crime against a vibrant young woman, friends, family, and community resoundingly responded - over one hundred participants submitted squares depicting memories of Esme or paying tribute to her joyful spirit.  The result is shown here in a 20 by 7 foot community memorial quilt.  The textile work in this show explores themes of loss, grief, healing, the need to protect our children, as well as reactions to violence against girls and women by some of Lisa’s art quilt friends.

The Park National Bank Art Gallery is located in the Snyder building on the UC Clermont College campus in Batavia at 4200 Clermont College Drive. Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sundays. The exhibition and opening reception and activities are free and open to the public.