Mike Wolanin | The Republic Molly Little mixes paint for a jacket she is painting for Demin Day during art class at CSA New Tech in Columbus, Ind., Friday, April 21, 2023.
For more than 20 years, Denim Day has been an annual event where individuals wear jeans as a protest against misconceptions around sexual assault.
This year, local high school students took it a step further, using denim as a literal canvas to make their voices heard.
CSA New Tech students recently painted jean jackets with messages and imagery about healthy relationships in honor of Denim Day, which was held on April 26 this year.
About 20 students in Advanced 2D Art participated in the project, and other students also joined in out of interest, said visual art teacher Sydney Nalley.
“It’s been really fun because … most of my students, this time, are really excited,” she said. “And not that they typically aren’t, but some of the kids who in the past haven’t been as enthusiastic about projects are really working hard on these. They all have really strong and powerful things to say.”
As part of the project, individuals from Turning Point Domestic Violence Services came to the school to talk to students about Denim Day, and the organization will also provide feedback on students’ finished work.
The project has also received support from others, with community members donating all of the jackets needed for the work. Sans Souci donated more than half of the jackets for the project, Turning Point gave some, and a few New Tech teachers chipped in as well.
Additionally, almost all of the art supplies for the project came from Donors Choose, a site where public school teachers can post about their projects and request funds to help meet their goals. Nalley’s “Jackets for Change” campaign raised $300 through the website, thanks to the help of a few donors and matching gifts from the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation.
Nalley hopes that the project has shown students that they can use art to share their voices and have a positive impact on their community.
“I’m really excited for them to understand what a healthy relationship looks like,” she added. “It has really brought about some important conversations about consent and being an active bystander and things of that matter. So I hope, all around, that it just promotes a positive change in them.”
She also hopes that the art project, like Denim Day, can become an annual event.
Peace Over Violence, a nonprofit focused on eliminating sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence, has run the Denim Day campaign for 24 years.
The day annually occurs in April in recognition of Sexual Violence Awareness Month and has its origin in a 1999 ruling from the Italian Supreme Court. The court had overturned a rape conviction, with justices saying that since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the rapist remove her jeans, which would imply consent.
The day after this decision, women in the Italian Parliament came to work dressed in jeans to show their solidarity with the victim.
“Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it,” the organization’s website states. “Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.”
At a local level, Turning Point Domestic Violence Services annually encourages community members to participate in Denim Day.
Nalley said that the jean jacket project came about after her students helped with Turning Point’s HEART Show at the beginning of the year, which led to conversations about how they could work with the organization again in the future.
“A lot of high school students have experienced sexual assault to some capacity,” said Nalley. “And so I felt that this definitely was, there was a need for that (advocacy) and a need for us to kind of show that support for our student body.”
“Sexual violence affects millions of people each year in the United States,” the CDC’s website states. “Researchers know the numbers underestimate this problem because many cases are unreported. Survivors may be ashamed, embarrassed, or afraid to tell the police, friends, or family about the violence. Victims may also keep quiet because they have been threatened with further harm if they tell anyone or do not think anyone will help them.”
