Click here to download the Clothesline Project Request Form

1. We have clotheslines available for exhibit to honor the women and children murdered as a result of domestic violence and child abuse for the years 1992 to 2007.
2. You may request a particular year to display. We will try to accommodate all requests, but may not always be able to provide the clothesline you request. You might want to select a second choice of year.
3. Please reserve the Clothesline Project at least two weeks in advance. For October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we suggest reserving the Clothesline Project at least one month ahead of time.
4. We normally lend the Clothesline Project for a period of up to one week, although we may be able to negotiate a longer display.
5. The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women reserves the right to refuse any request for the Clothesline Project.
6. We ask for a $100 donation to cover some of the costs in making the exhibit available. If your group cannot cover the donation, we will make every effort to work with you to ensure you can display the Clothesline Project. If a group is unable to provide a donation, we also would appreciate it if the group collected donations at the display of the Clothesline Project and then donated the proceeds to MCBW. Checks are payable to MCBW and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. We also gladly welcome larger donations to support our statewide violence prevention efforts.
7. All organizations displaying the Clothesline Project must pay a $50 damage deposit for the exhibit. If the clothesline you display is returned to MCBW on time and in the same condition it was sent to you, the deposit will be refunded. There are no exceptions to this policy.
8. To ensure that your deposit is returned, please treat the Clothesline Project with the utmost respect and care. Food or drink should not be allowed near the Clothesline Project, nor should the audience be allowed to touch the t-shirts.
9. When returning the Clothesline Project, please neatly fold the t-shirts in the box. Borrowers will be charged $25 each for damaged or soiled t-shirts.
10. Please remember to ship or drop off the Clothesline Project on or before the date you agreed to return it. Another group may have arranged to show the same Clothesline Project on the date you agreed to return it. Borrowers will be charged $25 per day for Clothesline Projects returned late.
11. If an entire clothesline is lost, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair, the group responsible will be charged $500.
12. We prefer loaning the exhibit to groups expecting a large audience. If a small group requests the display, we would encourage collaboration with other women's groups in the area to expand the potential audience for this exhibit. We especially encourage groups to work with their local battered women's program in planning a community exhibit and will refer you to a group in your area if you are unaware of one.
13. Groups using the exhibit are responsible for transporting the project to and from the MCBW office in St. Paul. Shipping the project is an option for groups that are a great distance from St. Paul. If a group is within a reasonable driving distance of St. Paul, we do ask that you pick up and drop off the Clothesline Project at our office, rather than have it shipped.
    The project can be transported easily in the back seat of a vehicle. It consists of 35-60 shirts and most of the supplies needed to hang the display (clothesline, clothespins, rope, comment book, and handouts for duplication).

Hanging the exhibit requires the following:

1. Approximately 100 feet of display area to hang 30-50 shirts, using a location that allows people to view the shirts hung on the clothesline and to read attached vignettes about each woman and child.
2. A secure area (supervised at all times if open to the public and the ability to lock the room when it is not in use).
3. Two to four helpers for setting up (about 1 1/2 hours) and down (15 minutes).
4. A stepladder if using the ceiling.
5. Table space for a comment book and informational materials.

There are various ways to hang the Clothesline Project:

1. One way to hang the exhibit is on columns or posts to which the Clothesline can be tied (this might also allow for a two-sided display which would then require only half the display space).  Another option is to obtain round stand-alone clothesline racks.  These take up less space and are easy to put up, although it is more difficult to see the backs of the shirts.
2. Wall space on which you can use pushpins or small nails for hanging short (5 to 10 feet) sections of the Clothesline. Please do NOT pierce any of the t-shirts with pins or nails. It is also possible to tape a rope to a wall (if the tape will not damage the wall) and then hang the shirts from the rope.
3. Coat racks, placed end-to-end, to which the Clothesline is hung.
4. A suspended ceiling with a metal frame grid from which the Clothesline can hang.
5. Some other creative way you and your group can think up that we haven't discovered yet!

If you are interested in using the Clothesline Project, please:

1. Print out, complete, and return the Clothesline Project Request Form to the MCBW office with the $50 damage deposit. You will be contacted shortly afterwards for confirmation.
2. Follow all above guidelines at all times.
3. Send us copies of any publicity materials created for your event or any photographs you take.

If you have any questions, or wish to inquire about a particular date or a clothesline's availability, please call Liz Richards at (651) 646-6177.