Bryan Esther

Article by Cheryl Brink
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September 27, 2011

Esther Bryan, creator of the Quilt of Belonging, stands with her piece called "New Dawn".

A cotton canvas depicting the past and future potential of Cornwall , will be on display to the world during the 2012 Olympic Games. Coventry, England, is organizing a massive art exhibit with pieces from its twin cities

• including Cornwall - that will be paraded through the country's capital during the international sports competition.

Esther Bryan, creator of the Quilt of Belonging, was commissioned by the city of Cornwall to put together its contribution. "It's an 'honoured to be considered for this, to be asked," she says. Bryan's piece, like all the others, had to be done on textile with specific colour schemes. She says with those
restrictions, she had a hard time choosing a symbol to best represent the area.

"The bridge is coming down, so what do you put?" she says. "The one thing that stays constant is the river. It has a huge place in our history, and in some ways has shaped it!" So Bryan hopped on a boat early one morning and took photos and sketches of the shoreline while the sun rose. Several waterfront landmarks are included in the finished piece, including Windmill
Point and the civic complex. Over it all is the arch that is part of the city's official logo.

She called the piece New Dawn, because of her early morning excursion and also to reference the next chapter in Cornwall's history. "There's a lot of hope," she says. "That seemed like the appropriate thing that we wanted to say about ourselves." She says she cares less about international reaction to her piece than what it means to the community it portrays. "More important than what they thought over there is how people see themselves here," she says. "We want to feel that we can contribute something of beauty and quality, we are capable. We need that message for ourselves."

She says she's seeing a buildup of excitement and momentum for Cornwall's future, with passionate business owners and developers eager to
help revitalization efforts. "1 see so many capable, keen people' working hard to make things better," she says. "I'm really encouraged." But the project was still a difficult one; Bryan says she spent "hundreds of hours" painting the cotton, overlaying it with organza, and hand stitching gold embroidery.

From here, the piece will be sent to Coventry for inclusion in the exhibit called Godiva Awakes, meant to promote social justice. All of the artwork
will be used in a coat for a 10 meters tall Godiva figure. After traveling London's streets during the Olympics, the mobile public art project will be
toured around the United Kingdom and beyond in various exhibits.

According to a report to council, the city budgeted $3,000 for Cornwall's piece.