HOPE Project on Display at George C. Marshall’s Home in Leesburg
A part of artist Diane Canney’s effort to shine a light on the victims and heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic is on display at Dodona Manor in Leesburg.
All this month, visitors may view Canney’s latest HOPE display on the lawn of George C. Marshall’s home at 217 Edwards Ferry Road.
Canney launched the project last summer at the urging of her 95-year-old mother, Phyllis Liedtke, who asked her to do something about the pandemic. The goal of this project is to recognize the heroism of medical workers fighting the virus and honor the memory of those who have been lost to it.
Canney has been collecting quilt panel contributions from around the country to create artistic expressions of grief and hope during the pandemic. She displays the panels by mounting them to eight-foot letters that spell out “HOPE” in various public locations, including the Lincoln Memorial and National Mall in Washington, DC. Many local organizations have contributed and scenes created by the students at St. Theresa Catholic School in Ashburn feature prominently on the new Leesburg display.
After the display period, Canney plans to sew the panels together into quilts to donate to the Smithsonian Institution.
Members of the community are invited to contribute their own quilt tiles or to suggest a COVID victim or hero to be painted by Canney or other project volunteers.
Learn more about the project at hopequilt.org.