Public art exhibit brings incarcerated women’s quilt to High Point

A traveling public art installation born from a handmade quilt by incarcerated women during the COVID pandemic is on display in High Point through mid-February, giving Guilford County residents a visible reminder of how pandemic-era corrections policies affected families and community ties.

Resilience High Point partnered with the High Point Public Library to host Stitching Stories Reimagined, an Arise Collective project funded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s public art initiative. The installation, in the library parking lot, is open daily from 9 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. through February 18, 2026. The piece will travel across the state before a permanent installation in Raleigh.

The work traces to early pandemic restrictions when work permits and visitations for incarcerated women were terminated indefinitely, severing routine connections with family and community. A small group of women began crocheting a quilt to represent that loss; the original textile has been reimagined into an expanded visual art installation intended to carry their stories into public spaces. For local viewers, the exhibit turns private, institutional experiences into a public conversation about the social costs of emergency corrections policies.

Public art of this type operates at the intersection of cultural programming and civic accountability. Philanthropic funding from statewide foundations enabled the project to tour, while a local nonprofit and the city library provided the venue and community outreach. The display creates a low-barrier opportunity for residents to engage with questions about incarceration, reentry, family separation, and pandemic-era decision-making that remain relevant as county and state officials consider corrections policy and community supports.

Library officials and Resilience High Point have scheduled related community activities and opportunities to learn more about the installation and the stories behind it. Residents can find details at resiliencehp.org/stitching or by contacting the City’s library officials. The exhibit’s placement in a public, high-traffic civic space makes it accessible to families, students, and commuters who may not otherwise encounter work on criminal justice and public health intersections.

Beyond the artwork, the installation offers a prompt for civic engagement: view, reflect, and bring questions to local meetings where policy decisions about reentry services, visitation rules, and inmate work programs are shaped. The exhibit also underscores the role of public institutions and funders in amplifying marginalized voices.

The takeaway? Stop by the library lot during daylight hours, see the work for yourself, and use what you learn to ask practical questions at school boards, county commission meetings, or the library—to make sure those community conversations stitch policy and people back together.