Sisters Speak Out

Healing begins with voice. There is a hardening process that takes place when a girl or a woman is taken advantage of or abused relentlessly. She closes up. She shuts down. She puts up a protective wall around her. The emotions entangled in that hurtful experience become knotted up somewhere deep down inside of her. And she carries on with her life—in survival mode. But when a girl or a woman can give voice to those deep, destructive feelings of shame, fear, guilt, hurt, and powerlessness—then she can begin to heal. Sisters Speak Out is an opportunity for girls and women to grow out of those damaging life experiences and find healing and empowerment through artistic expression.

“I was very concerned about children who had been at the most damaged level,” says Sisters Speak Out Founder and Author Missy Crutchfield. “I was motivated to bring those children back to life and inoculate others against the same fate by prompting the community to band together to advance awareness using the arts and social issues and building relationships with arts partners and others committed to this mission.”

Project Clothesline
Soon after she started building the new Department of Education, Arts & Culture, Crutchfield had the opportunity to facilitate the Project Clothesline workshop at a women’s support group at the Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults. Project Clothesline is a powerful healing experience that gives victims a plain, white t-shirt as their artistic canvas to give voice to what is in their hearts as they write and paint on the t-shirts. Since the Partnership began its Project Clothesline, 5,200 t-shirts have been created with amazingly heart-wrenching yet liberating messages.

One shirt with a crying face painted on it declares “Please Stop, I’ve Lost Everything, Do You Feel Better Because of What You’ve Done to ME?” Another shirt states in squiggly letters, “I Feel Scared.” Another t-shirt says in stark words, “My LIFE was TAKEN because my Husband was ANGRY.” Another t-shirt boldly declares, “Hands are not for hitting.” These are the voices of real women and children who have been hurt deeply but who are beginning to move through the healing process as they finally release the feelings they have been holding in for years.

As Crutchfield led out in the workshop, she realized there was really no need for long explanations. The women and children instantly connected with the project at hand, diving into creating messages and drawing pictures on the white t-shirts in front of them. Crutchfield was moved as she saw the finished products—the words and pictures were stirring. “The arts are an instrumental vehicle for healing social issues,’ Crutchfield says. “The t-shirt project is healing for victims emerging as survivors. I was so moved by their words. I began thinking how can we take this to the next level, how can we connect the dots? This stuff is good—how do we bring it to life. That’s when I began to think of the spoken word and theater piece—the Clothesline Speaks.”

The Clothesline Speaks
After struggling to find someone to take the project and run with it, Crutchfield decided she needed to move forward with the project because it was important and it needed to happen. She began consulting with writer Virginia Cowie to pull the phrases off the t-shirts and arrange them in a spoken word theater piece—“The Clothesline Speaks—a Vignette of Voices”. As the powerful words, phrases, and colors were pulled from the t-shirts they became alive. “A Vignette of Voices” opens with…

Voice 1 Voice.

Voice 2 (spoken with held back anger) I am a person. I hurt….Now I cry. When I see
my face and /remember

Voice 3 /Remember

These three voices tell the stories of women and children who found the strength to speak out against violence—telling their stories through painting t-shirts. These voices also tell a universal story—the story of the voiceless many who have been hurt deeply and yet carry on in silence—their voices stifled by fear and shame.

“Sisters Speak Out Against Violence: The Clothesline Speaks, Vignette of Voices” debuted at the Domestic Violence Coalition at the University of Chattanooga in October 2006. After the vocal performance and slide presentation of the t-shirts, the audience sat silently, reflecting on the powerful visual and vocal presentation of the Clothesline Project coming to life.

Stand Up, Speak Out
Several years prior to receiving the inspiration to create “Sisters Speak Out,” Crutchfield attended a fundraising event at the Children’s Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization that provides comprehensive services to children who are the victims of abuse. “A former Miss America came to speak for the event and shared how she had been a victim of sexual abuse,” Crutchfield says. “During her reign as Miss America, she used her crown to raise awareness and combat child sexual abuse.” Toward the end of her presentation at the event, the former Miss America looked out at the audience, and said if anyone had been abused to stand up. About one-third of the audience stood up immediately, and then slowly more and more people joined those who were already standing. “I looked around the room, which was fairly balanced between men and women, and almost everyone was standing. It was just one man and myself who were the only ones still sitting,” Crutchfield says. “And I should’ve stood up. But I didn’t have the courage at the time. From then on I decided to stand up.”

Sisters Speak Out
As Crutchfield and the Department of Education, Arts & Culture began “Sisters Speak Out” workshop sessions discussing issues of violence against women and finding healing and empowerment, “Sisters Speak Out” began to emerge as something much more than a spoken word theater piece. Working with young girls on discussing violence and abuse issues, Crutchfield began to realize a different approach was needed. Often the young women’s own family members were the abusers, and they did not feel safe or comfortable enough speaking openly about their experiences in workshop sessions. That’s when the idea took root for an “empowerment” piece which would take a preventative and healing approach in sharing the message of “Sisters Speak Out” with girls and young women.

Crutchfield began working with writer and editor of Chattanooga Teen Scene, Melissa Turner, to piece together “Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment.” The words of empowerment are built around the “I Am” phrase. “I Am” is a powerful statement of confidence and affirms strength and beauty and character. “I Am Beautiful.” “I Am Honest.” “I Am Responsible.” “I Am Respected.” “I Am Passionate.” “I Am Compassionate.”

As “Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment” developed into a “second act” of the theater piece, Crutchfield and EAC Cultural Arts Specialist Dorothea Richardson began workshop sessions discussing empowerment with teenage girls. The girls openly talked about the words that make them feel empowered—respect, honesty, responsibility—and then they transferred those messages onto quilt squares for a “Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment” quilt designed by Richardson.

Some of the girls in the workshop wrote afterwards…

Girl 1 “My word means to be ‘honest’ to others and to love others if you want to be treated the same, you should treat them the same.”

Girl 2 “The word Respect means to do the Right thing. Be honest. And don’t be mean to others. You have to show Respect for you to get Respect.”

Girl 3 “When we started I was thinking, about what the word empowerment means. Then they told me. One word that means empowerment is successful. I picked successful because I am successful and that’s what I want to be when I grow up.”

Girl 4 “Empowerment. I really didn’t know what this word meant, but I do now. I
started thinking about self-confidence and protection. We as young women need to have confidence in themselves. My friends should come and attend this program. And everyone should have confidence.”

In February 2008, the two-act “Sisters Speak Out Against Violence” and “Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment” opened for “Vagina Monologues” at Encore Theatre in Chattanooga. In the months following the theatrical debut of “Sisters Speak Out,” Crutchfield sensed there was still a missing piece—Fashion and Beauty from the Inside Out. Crutchfield began working on the piece over the summer, envisioning a fashion show experience that ends the “Sisters Speak Out” trilogy with awareness and celebration.

“Sisters Speak Out: Making a Fashion Statement!” adds the stories of four young women modeling their own fashion designs as they strut their values—self-respect, culture and heritage, wisdom for making right choices, and caring for the environment. “Fashion and beauty have always been a doubled edged sword,” Crutchfield says. “We want to be beautiful, we want to be valued, we desire to be desired. But at what price? And whose values have we adopted? When 10 year old girls are anorexic and magazines glorify walking skeletons—when models do whatever it takes to be the right size, weight, and figure…something’s wrong. Fast forward to a more compassionate fashion future: Strike a pose.”

Connecting the Dots
On August 8, 2008 the full three-act play “Sisters Speak Out” debuted at Encore Theatre in Chattanooga. “Sisters” as it is fondly known, has grown from a one act play to a complete three act play to include the following components: “Sisters Speak Out Against Violence” (arranged by Virginia Cowie); “Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment” (writing and arrangement by Melissa Turner); and its newest component, a fashion show titled “Sisters Speak Out: Making a Fashion Statement!” (writing and arrangement by Missy Crutchfield). The play continues to be performed at community centers and theatres to share the message of healing and empowerment with as many people as possible. “Sisters” also continues with workshops where girls and women discuss empowerment and share their messages visually on quilt squares or t-shirts. A “Sisters Speak Out” documentary will debut online to share the story on a global level.

From that powerful dream she had years ago, to the Clothesline Project facilitation, to a spoken word piece, to a full three-act play, workshop sessions, and a documentary—Missy Crutchfield founded “Sisters Speak Out”—a project that connects the dots between social issues and the arts in a real and tangible experience from painting t-shirts or quilt squares to hearing the voices of healing and empowerment. “It’s all about flipping the downward spiral up,” Crutchfield says. “It comes down to choices. I constantly keep finding ways to connect and make a difference in the world.”

Remember Your Dream

Through a Vision for a City of Creativity and Compassion, Missy Crutchfield and the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture Are Connecting the Dots Between Social Issues and the Arts

“Welcome Speech" Presented by Missy Crutchfield, Administrator of the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture
Connecting the Dots - A Summit Exploring Arts and Social Issues
April 5, 2006

"Good morning, my name is Missy Crutchfield. Yesterday marked 38 years since the assassination of one of the country’s most important civil rights leaders—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A bullet took him away from us—but his vision and his dream will live on forever. So, today, in the memory of Dr. King and his monumental work for the rights of all people—All God’s Children—and in the name of partnership, commitment, and above all, in the name of love. Let us take a few moments in silence.



"About five years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea to create an umbrella-like collection of new and already existing organizations and programs, partners, sponsors, and individual artists whose work could change the world—beginning with this community. The focus is on: Arts, Communication, and Mentoring—and it’s all about connecting the dots and connecting to each other. So, one year ago, when Mayor Ron Littlefield asked me to be the administrator and create a brand new department of Education, Arts & Culture, I realized that the timing was perfect—to begin forging partnerships to connect the dots with our children and our community—in a way that we haven’t before; to create and hold a Summit called “Connecting the Dots” which will for the first time ever bring together two very powerful agencies—Allied Arts and United Way—to look at how we can collectively make a difference in our lives, our children’s lives, and in the lives of others. This umbrella idea is called “Remember Your Dream”—and we are creating it right now. This Summit is the beginning of a collective effort of change and partnership. We are all connected. But if we don’t connect in a positive way now, we may connect later—only then it might be in the form of gang violence—with a knife or a gun. Either way, we’re connected. And it’s up to us to break the chain of violence and flip the downward spiral up.

In the Department, we’re also working on a “Remember Your Dream” education initiative which will work through arts and social issues, and will focus on inner-city kids in low performance schools—we have a six-school pilot that we will be launching this fall. Through arts and learning activities, mentoring and communication—we can begin to create connections like never before. I like to think of our children as our human rainforests. In the natural rainforests we know that we’re losing species everyday, which could be possible cures for AIDS or cancer—these kids could be the future scientists who find the cures, they could be a future Einstein, Da Vinci, Rosa Parks, or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Either way, we all deserve an opportunity. We must connect to them now, before it’s too late. We must work together to flip the downward spiral up. We can tell a story in Chattanooga, Tennessee that can resonate across the country. And, it starts now. It starts today. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for caring and dedicating your work and your lives to these very issues. Thank you."

Connecting the Dots with Education, Arts & Culture

Ten months after pulling together as a new city department in 2005, the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture (EAC) invited the community to the first annual “Connecting the Dots Summit” to engage in conversations about the potential impact of using the arts to address social issues. The event was co-sponsored by EAC, United Way of Greater Chattanooga and Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga—a first ever partnership between United Way and Allied Arts, an excellent example of “connecting the dots.”


It could be said that Chattanooga’s renaissance has been an outgrowth of artistic vision on the part of both the city’s leaders and its citizens. From skyline to streetscapes, from riverfront to urban space, the once-polluted city has since come to life through creative revitalization efforts. In sparking dialogue about arts and social issues through the Connecting the Dots Summit, EAC Administrator Missy Crutchfield and EAC have an artistic vision for helping community members realize their own creative potential in helping reshape Chattanooga’s social issues and cultural development for generations to come.


Most citizens probably don’t think of themselves as artists, but keynote speaker and artist/activist Rick Lowe encouraged summit attendees with the words “Everyone is an artist,” a famous slogan first advanced by artist and social sculpture theorist Joseph Beuys. “Social sculpture is the way we shape and mold the world around us,” Lowe explained. “Whether we are artists, doctors or janitors, every day we’re all contributing to the shape of the world around us."

Through his artistic vision and passion for social activism, Lowe helped transform a neighborhood of shotgun houses in Houston’s Third Ward (which is now called Project Row Houses) into a thriving community for single mothers. From local residents and children, social services agencies and schools, architects and urban planners and artists of various disciplines, Project Row Houses became a dynamic community project in every sense of the word. Each community member had a part to play in helping rebuild and revitalize the neighborhood. This sense of networking and making use of each community member’s creativity, talents and resources helped Lowe and the project leaders in “connecting the dots.”


Following Lowe’s keynote address a group of 150 summit attendees engaged in a series of workshops sparking dialogue in the areas of Arts & Education, Arts & Healing, Arts & Economic Development and Community & Race Relations. “This summit is part of a collaborative partnership for change,” Crutchfield said in her opening remarks. “We can tell a story in Chattanooga, Tennessee that can resonate across the country."


As a result of that first Connecting the Dots Summit, many of the community members who attended immediately launched into new and powerful conversations about addressing social issues through the arts. The intent in offering the community summit is to help community members and organizations continue the conversation and start connecting their own dots, Crutchfield says. Former Allied Arts President Don Andrews says he believes the summit opened the way for new partnerships and collaborations among organizations in the city. “I think Allied Arts now has a clearer vision of the opportunities for crossing over with social service agencies,” he remarked in the summit discussion session.


Since the first Connecting the Dots summit launched, EAC has worked with artists and community partners to roll out a variety of collaborative arts programs that connect the community and engage youth in remembering their dreams. EAC continues to co-host the Connecting the Dots Summit with Allied Arts and United Way each year with new keynote speakers, follow-up networking, and celebrating summit outcomes. Past keynote speakers have included Claudia Cornett, Ph.D., author of “Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts” and Earl S. Braggs, M.F.A., poet and UC Foundation Professor, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.


Through the Connecting the Dots Summit, EAC is developing an artistic vision for community members and organizations working together to creatively address social issues and community development in the city. As Lowe put it, everyone has a part to play. “We’re going to have to figure out how to unleash the creativity in all our citizens,” Lowe says. “And apply it to world issues we’re dealing with.”


For more information about the the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture contact Melissa Turner (423) 425-7826 or turner_m@mail.chattanooga.gov.

EAC Great things in the city! – the city department that is changing the world

Four years ago this month, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield launched a brand new city department called Education, Arts & Culture. Under the direction of founding Administrator Missy Crutchfield, the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture (EAC) has grown into a successful and unique city department.


One of Mayor Littlefield’s very first initiatives was to bring education, arts and culture programs back to Chattanooga’s neighborhoods. “Mayor Littlefield took arts & culture from the Department of Parks and Recreation and placed ‘education’ first in the name of the new Department of Education, Arts & Culture,” says founding Administrator Missy Crutchfield. “That says something about how important education and the arts are to this Mayor. He has envisioned Chattanooga as a city of compassion and EAC is a vehicle for carrying out that message to the community through our signature programs and initiatives.”


EAC connects kids and teens with fun learning experiences outside of the school day that grow and support the learning that takes place during the school day. Through afterschool programming in city recreation centers and innovative arts and literacy initiatives city-wide, EAC connects with people of all ages across the city.



Through leveraging resources with recreation centers and building partnerships with non-profit, faith-based and corporate organizations, EAC has created and collaborated on over twelve original education and arts projects and initiatives—several gaining national recognition, such as the Connecting the Dots with Technology initiative. In addition to a wide range of programming, renovation and restoration are continuing in the civic facilities to maintain first class venues to present top level performances and programs.


“Remember Your Dream” is the driving vision behind EAC’s initiatives—using the arts to address social issues—which include mentoring and arts programs, issue-driven literacy programs, purpose-driven social networking events, and gender-specific programs for boys and girls emphasizing healthy relationships and peer-to-peer programs. EAC is driven by the mission to offer a broad base of programs that will give residents of all ages, incomes and ethnicities a chance to connect the dots between social issues and the arts. EAC’s programs and events are open to the entire community.


“The value of the arts has been proven to engage young and old alike in positive and productive citizenship,” Mayor Littlefield says. “And although we are not in the education business, EAC addresses many of the issues and challenges identified in our local schools like literacy, behavior and character development.”


EAC Administrator Missy Crutchfield says, “In four years, we have created a unique city department—perhaps the only one of its kind in the nation. We’re known for ‘Connecting the Dots’ and creating innovative partnerships that engage learners of all ages. It all goes back to the original vision we built this department around—Remember Your Dream—addressing social issues through the arts. We’re connecting the dots, one artist, one social service agency, one community at a time—creating an Unbroken City of Compassion.”


For more information about the the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture contact Melissa Turner (423) 425-7826 or turner_m@mail.chattanooga.gov.