In 2018 Curtis joined FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture as a volunteer. Founded in 2010 by and for survivors, FORCE was an art and activist collective dedicated to ending sexual violence and building a culture of consent, widely known for creating public art to disrupt rape culture.
The Monument Quilt, a project of Baltimore and Mexico City-based FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, is a collection of more than 3,000 stories by survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence and our allies, written, painted, and stitched onto red fabric. These stories literally blanket highly public, outdoor places to create and demand space to heal, and resist a singular narrative about sexual violence. The culminating display was May 31 – June 2, 2019, on the National Mall in Washington, DC. This was the only time that the quilt was displayed in its entirety.
The Monument Quilt was launched in 2013, and over six years FORCE collected nearly 3,000 squares of the quilt with messages of affirmation and stories from survivors. FORCE partnered with over 100 organizations across the US and in Mexico, to organize 50 Quilt displays in 33 different cities. Cities include (in order from most recent): Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Madison, NJ; Houston, TX; Athens, OH; Fort Belvoir, VA; Towson, MD; Mexico City, Mexico; San Francisco, CA; El Paso, TX; Ciudad Juárez, Mexico; Santa Barbara, CA; Valley Center, CA; Tempe, AZ; Tulsa, OK; Fort Hood, TX; Annapolis, MD; Fort Meade, MD; Washington, DC; Nashville, TN; Jacksonville, FL; Oklahoma City, OK; Middleton, CT; Queens, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; Durham, NC; Oshkosh, WI; Chicago, IL; White River, SD; Quapaw, OK; Des Moines, IA; Baton Rouge, LA; Birmingham, AL; Arden, NC.
“I WILL NOT BE SILENT”
Four handmade quilt squares by varying artists; each 4 ft x 4 ft, creating a 8 ft x 8 ft quilt.
Baltimore, MD, Mexico City, MX
Bottom Left: Caitie Curtis