2015 marks the fifth anniversary of UAB's Women & Infants Center, where Taylor (as an Artist in Residence in UAB's Institute for Arts in Medicine or AIM) offers a variety of sewing projects for female patients receiving infusion therapy for gynecological oncology and for expecting mothers on the High Risk Obstetrics unit. Taylor also provides sewing workshops for families with babies in the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) and the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN). In collaboration with AIM's director, Kimberly Kirklin and RNICU family liaison and nurse, Sandra Milstead, The Hexie Project was born.
Simply, the project commemorates and celebrates the first five years of UAB's Women & Infants Center (WIC) through an arts project that the entire WIC community can participate in. In the spring of 2015, scrub protocol was changed so that many physicians, nurses and staff had to transition to a new scrub color based on their occupation. In conjunction with the transition, The Hexie Project collected old scrubs, which were used in the final project.
The project resulted in two wall hangings composed of hexies made by hospital staff, visitors and patients. The hexies were sewn together by Taylor in such a way as to create two images, which celebrate the community that has been positively affected by its experiences at WIC. Below are sketches, updates and images of the finished project.
Hexie Project sketch: this is a rough draft of the community quilt. It will be composed of approximately 3,276 hexies made from 5" circles. It will measure 10 feet x 5 feet.
UPDATE: Hospital staff have chosen a perfect location for The Hexie Project, but the location requires the original design to be turned into two hangings. These two pieces will hang across from each other on the 2nd floor of WIC in the waiting area outside of the elevator atrium. As of November 12th, work on part one of the Hexie Project is complete and part 2 is nearing completion. The project is on schedule for an unveiling before the end of the year.
As the project progressed, a hanging site was determined and the project was divided into two wall hangings. Each piece is approximately 6 feet wide by 4 feet tall and both pieces combined are made from approximately 1,176 hexies. The hexies started out as 5" circles cut from donated scrubs.
UPDATE: The wall hangings are finished and the project has been renamed, "Compassionate Pieces: A Community Quilt Project". The hangings were installed and unveiled on December 17, 2015. Press for the project here.