Quilt of Belonging Searching For Permanent Home
Candy Pollard

 The Quilt of Belonging and Heart of the City are delighted with the enthusiastic response the exhibit is receiving during its’ visit to the Cornwall Civic Complex . There are pages of comments from the visitors describing the Quilt as stunning, overwhelming and magnificent. “ This makes me proud to be Canadian!” is a simple but profound message left by one of the guests.

Many leaders from the City of Cornwall as well as Municipal, Provincial ,Federal and First Nations Representatives have over the past week visited the Quilt. They describe it as an ambassador to the community and passionately celebrate the feeling of belonging it supports.

Heart of the City in cooperation with the Quilt of Belonging Board of Directors welcomed this opportunity to meet and further discuss a permanent home for the Quilt . Terry Sylvester, Chairman for Heart of the City hosted an audience of Community stakeholders, the Quilt Board of Directors and other interested parties on the evening of May 14 to further discuss the possibilities of developing a permanent home for the Quilt in Cornwall. “The Quilt is truly inspirational!” Terry said. He adds “not only is it stunning to look at, but once you hear and see its’ stories, it is truly magical”. Heart of the City have graciously co-hosted the Cornwall exhibit. They have also been in consultation with IBI group represented by Jonathan Hack for some time to investigate the possibilities of a home for the Quilt.

Mr. Hack was in attendance to speak to the audience and provide information on the great potential and significant benefit Quilt of Belonging would generate to Cornwall and the surrounding region. Mr. Hack says “ There are significant benefits which we believe will arise to the region as a whole. The Quilt is an attraction of inspiration and should it reside here should be on the to-do list of any visitor”. His report went on to explain how a permanent site would benefit the City. He sees the Quilt of Belonging as a considerable asset to the City as it further develops its tourism industry. He provided specifics on utilizing the Cotton Mills District; specifically the Weave Shed as being a viable location to take into account. He encouraged the use of this area because of the history, location and offered further statistics for the audience to contemplate.

Mr. Malcom Robertson, Chairman of the Board Quilt of Belonging after considering the information offered stated “ We the Board of Directors believe that we have made another step in our search for a permanent home for the Quilt. There are many hurdles to overcome but more and more people are seeing a clearer picture of the direction to take.” Carol White, Vice Chair on the Quilt Board voiced her appreciation saying “ I am very encouraged that our leaders have promised to lend themselves to the task of supporting this initiative.”

Participants at the meeting spent some time to discuss where to go next and of course took a little more time to view the Quilt of Belonging.

Contact info.
Joanne High
(613)347-2381
Email marketing@quiltofbelonging.ca

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