By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
When it was unveiled at the Arts Council of Princeton’s new Paul Robeson building on a Sunday afternoon in September 2005, the custom-made Witherspoon Jackson-Neighborhood Quilt became a centerpiece of the Arts Council’s permanent exhibit commemorating the residents and history of the neighborhood.
The quilt — crafted by West Windsor artist Gail Mitchell in collaboration with residents of the neighborhood — was seen as a way of celebrating and preserving the social fabric of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood through sewn fabric. Personal images and signatures collected from neighborhood residents were digitally scanned and printed on cloth, which was then stitched together into the completed quilt.
So it is a painful irony that images on the quilt intended to preserve the historic Witherspoon-Jackson community before it fades away have themselves begun to fade.
Some neighborhood residents grew concerned enough that they brought the fading quilt to the attention of Princeton Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman, who asked Arts Council Executive Director Jeff Nathanson about it at a recent Borough Council meeting.
”It is a shame,” Ms. Mitchell said of the fading. She said most of the quilts she creates are not hung out in the light like the Witherspoon Jackson quilt. She said she contacted the manufacturer of the printer she used and they said they could not guarantee their ink wouldn’t fade if exposed to the light as the quilt is.
The Arts Council is in the process of consulting with a conservator and will do whatever it can to preserve the quilt, said Mr. Nathanson. Not only is the quilt a unique work of art, “it has significance for the community,” he said.
Lights are kept off near the quilt and it is not hung in direct natural light, Mr. Nathanson said. “We keep the light levels low purposely and I don’t really know it’s made any difference,” he said.
Mr. Nathanson said perhaps some interaction between the ink and fabric, a pH balance problem is one possibility, is causing the fading. “It’s a challenge. We’ll see what we can do about it,” he said.
Ms. Mitchell said the quilt would be impossible to recreate, both because the hours and hours spent making it in collaboration with neighborhood residents were such a rewarding experience, but also because some of the residents themselves are no longer around.
”It was the thrill of a lifetime putting it together with those women,” Ms. Mitchell said of the experience of working with neighborhood residents Shirley Satterfield, Minnie Craig, Lois Craig, Cynthia (Chip) Fisher on the project.
”Some of the people have passed on,” said Ms. Mitchell. “That’s a one-of-a-kind quilt,” she said. “It’s very special.”

