Artists collaborate on piece exploring women’s issues
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Lynn Estomin's art career has weaved together art education, activism and mentorship. She has now managed to combine all three pursuits into her piece Security Blanket: A Collaborative Women's Art Project. Now on display at the Campus Art Gallery at the Lycoming College Fine Arts building on their Williamsport campus (not to be confused with their downtown gallery at 25 W. Fourth St. in Williamsport) until Monday, November 9, the fiber arts piece explores a myriad of women's issues.
"The idea of a quilt came up and it was to be sort of modeled after a baby quilt – the abc's of what a just and equal society should provide for women and families," said Estomin.
Estomin, who lives in Williamsport, worked with co-creator Andrea Kornbluh from Cincinnati. Together, they issued a national call to artists.
"The parameters were that you had to take a letter and if it wasn't chosen, you could get it. [Then] they chose a word that had something to do with women's rights," explained Estomin.
The call to create brought together 26 artists from around the United States to collaborate.
"The wonderful thing about it is that it is broad and incorporates a lot of different women's perspectives. Initially, the idea came from being upset about [the] Dobbs decision and the overturning of Roe v. Wade," said Estomin.
Estomin was pleasantly surprised by each artist's creativity.
"A is not 'abortion.' It's 'access.' They are all very different and some of the words were surprising. G is 'grace.' P is 'play.' B is 'black bodies,'" said the artist. "It was amazing how all the blocks are very different and all the artists are very different. Their processes are different but everyone was focused in the same way, even though everyone had a different word, different letter, a different way of expressing it. It's cohesive."
Estomin, who taught art at Lycoming College for 25 years, also reached out to former students of hers to help with the project. Andrea McDonough of Williamsport was one of them. Now an art education professor with Lycoming College, McDonough was teaching the class Mindful Art to grades 9 – 12 at the Williamsport School District, when she was chosen to collaborate. Taking a lesson from her mentor Estomin, McDonough turned to her own students to help with the letter "M," by sewing hearts into the square.
"It [represents] my voice, my choice. That square was created while I was still in the classroom and my daughter was one of my students. In that class, we did needle felting to create shapes and designs. My Voice, My Choice is an organization that is a UK based non-profit. Every heart on the square is added by a young woman and it was a way of bringing the next generation into the conversation," said Donough.
Estomin, who collaborated with three of her students on the quilt, said, "It's been fun to work with women who I taught when they were 18 to 22 and are now professional artists out in the world."
Other local artists, who collaborated on the quilt, include Rebecca Kinzie-Bastian from Barbours, Deb Caulkins from Williamsport, Sara Mika from Catawissa and Camille Seeling from Cogan Station.
Security Blanket made its debut in Philadelphia in 2025 and will continue to travel to galleries in 2027. Upcoming exhibitions include The Exchange in Bloomsburg January 11 – February 12, Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center in Wellsboro March 6 – April 4 and PCCA Gallery in Newport April 10 – May 8.
"It gives [viewers] a much broader view of how reproductive rights fit into the broader question of what makes a society just and equal. What do women and families need to be equal players in this society and what should society strive to do?" said Estomin.
Estomin and Kornbluh are now working on a second Security Blanket quilt, which is set to debut in 2027 that will explore immigration issues.
"This will be a series of banner sized quilts focusing on immigration. The idea is that they can be carried as banners at rallies in support of local immigrants as well as show in community centers and galleries," said the artist.
Estomin will present an artist talk about her current exhibition at the Campus Art Gallery on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 4:30 p.m.