Woven into the fabric of our country is a fundamental idea: our diversity, multiple perspectives, and personal stories make the United States great. In our enduring commitment to “welcome the stranger,” the Skirball Cultural Center is honored to collect and display blankets submitted to artist and activist Jayna Zweiman’s national Welcome Blanket project.

Welcome Blanket invites knitters, quilters, and other handcraft makers to create blankets and write personal notes for new refugees arriving to the US. Through March 12, 2023, the Skirball will collect, catalogue, and present a display of donated blankets on site. After the installation ends, more than thirty partner refugee resettlement groups will then present these tangible gifts of welcome to our newest neighbors.

“Political activism can take many forms. Welcome Blanket takes the notion one step further: individuals and organizations can powerfully express their democratic values through crafting and visual statement, all the while creating a useful object to give to someone, that is ceremoniously kind, engaging, and politically powerful.”—Jayna Zweiman