This Progress Report was updated
July 31, 2023.
We did it!!! We have made more than 20,000 little elegies, one for each American baby who dies before their first birthday each year. Click here to see close-ups of each panel.
We are so pleased to note that This program was funded in part by the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona with funding from the City of Tucson and Pima County.
We have raised $4600+ through our fiscal sponsor. Much of these funds will cover shipping crates and installation materials, but we are still raising money to fund the first exhibition of the booties on October 21, 2023. Click here to see a list of our donors.
The Mourning Project is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of The Mourning Project must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Make your checks payable to Fractured Atlas and send them to Mary Vaneecke, 2000 S Hermosa Drive, Tucson, Arizona 85713. To donate directly to The Mourning Project via Fractured Atlas using your credit card, click here.
Panels completed and ready for installation: 210 panels of 100 pairs of booties each. Here is how the image would look from an aerial view:
For a list of all the wonderful PANELISTS, MAKERS, and STITCHERS, click here.
The Mourning Project was part of the March of Dimes Advocacy on April 25, 2023 at the Arizona State Legislature. This event is not open to the public, but you can get a glimpse of the 399 pairs of booties (Arizona’s share of the US infant mortality rate) by clicking on a short video here.
The first complete exhibition of all 20,000 pairs of booties will be on October 21, 2013 at Children’s Memorial Park in Tucson, Arizona! The March of Dimes – Arizona Chapter and The Center for Compassion are partnering with us on this very special event. Stay tuned for more details!
We are preparing to take the booties on the road next year. Hint: St. Louis will be on the list!
Could we get a pattern?
Links to free patterns are here: https://maryvaneecke.com/patterns/
I would like to get a group of ladies from my church to complete a panel if there is still a need. The last numbers I see were from August. Have you already reached your goal?
As of February 5, 2022, we need 3,000 more white booties stitched. Please email mary@maryvaneecke.com to reserve your kit.