The expression on her face revealed tremendous loss. Her wiry hair brushed my chin as her head dropped to my chest. While on the street near The Scarlet Cord installation, the woman embraced me for a long time. As a friend rubbed her back, grief surfaced. A deep lament bubbled up. After several minutes, these…
Her body screamed, “Don’t touch me.” Yet her words revealed her vulnerability. Deep hidden trauma. Visible. She was trying to hide her past. Or perhaps her present. But she unveiled her secrets to a group of us standing opposite her at The Scarlet Cord installation. One of the Women At Risk volunteers offered her a…
Many ArtPrize 2014 visitors commented on how meaningful the audio collage was in The Scarlet Cord installation. It features real voices of law enforcement and human trafficking survivors. The Scarlet Cord Audio Collage Crossing religious and social economic borders. Confronting child sex enslavement. Calling for compassionate action. Interview with rescued victims by Shared Hope International.…
Gracious and dedicated Women at Risk volunteers showed up every day at The Scarlet Cord installation to tie red string bracelets on ArtPrize visitors. By last Friday evening, with another two days of ArtPrize 2014 yet to go, all 30,000 available bracelets had been given out! People kept asking for them because they wanted to…
A young woman returned to The Scarlet Cord looking for me. She gave me a hug and thanked me for the work. As I listen to people’s stories during ArtPrize, I try not to be shocked. But this story rocked me. With tear-filled eyes, the young woman said, “As a small child, I was sex…
A young woman sat on the curb—crying—after viewing The Scarlet Cord. A young man sat next to her with his arm tight around her. Five minutes later, they were still sitting on the curb, and she was still crying. So I decided to approach them. Kneeling down, I asked the young woman, “Are you okay?”…