Hi folks!

The SECC is dedicated to featuring socially engaged craft artworks, and we’re bringing you a FUTURE project that you can participate in during NCECA 2017. This project comes to us from Lauryn Axelrod.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

#WALLSOFWELCOME at NCECA

The #WallsofWelcome Project

Donald Trump wants to build a wall – a wall of bigotry, hate, exclusion and fear. His wall sends a loud, clear message both to people at home and abroad that says, “You aren’t welcome here.”

But many communities don’t support that message. Many of us want communities in which everyone is included, supported, accepted, and safe.

What if each city, each town, each community had a Wall of Welcome – a wall that proclaims our desire to live together, celebrate our diversity, cooperate and support each other? A wall that says, “No” to fear, hate, racial, gender, or religious inequality, and environmental destruction, and “Yes” to the values that bind us together to make us stronger as diverse communities. What if we built walls that sent a different message: walls of love, tolerance, inclusion, support, and welcome? Walls that say, “You are safe here.”

#WALLSOFWELCOME at NCECA

At NCECA , as a community, we will build a temporary Wall of Welcome to express inclusion, safety, openness and support for all.

To participate, simply create a 3”x 9” ceramic tile with a notch in the back for hanging that expresses your desire for a peaceful, inclusive community.

Bring your tile to the #WallsofWelcome table in the Portland Conference Center on the first day of the conference. Pick up a flyer on creating #wallsofwelcome in your own community. The location of this #WallsofWelcome is TBD (let us know if you have Portland connections!)

Take a picture of your tile and share it with the #wallsofwelcomeNCECA tag. Hang it on the Wall of Welcome.

Your tile will be hung on the Wall of Welcome for the duration of the conference, and you may pick it up Saturday morning.  At the end of the conference, unclaimed tiles will become part of a permanent #wallsofwelcome.

Can’t make it to NCECA? You can send a tile with a friend.

For more information, visit us on facebook at WallsofWelcome or

contact Lauryn Axelrod at WallsofWelcome@gmail.com