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The UCLA Clothesline Project’s annual display in Schoenberg Quad will be set up from 7 a.m.

Hundreds of men and women at UCLA aren’t ashamed to hang their laundry out for all to see. For some, hanging clothes may be nothing more than a chore, but for others, it is a step toward healing.

It’s all part of the UCLA Clothesline Project’s annual display of T-shirts designed by and for victims of sexual, gender-based and domestic violence.

This year’s display, themed “Agency Activism Art,” will feature hundreds of color-coded shirts hanging in Schoenberg Quad and sexual violence education workshops today through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The display is part of the celebration of women’s achievements called Women for Change Week, now in its sixth year.

Though the week’s events focus on women, ever since the Clothesline Project came to UCLA in 1998, “people of all sorts” have turned up at the display, said Clothesline executive co-chair Julie Siegel, a third-year psychology student.

Fellow co-chair Alexis Flyer, who graduated last quarter, said nearly equal numbers of men and women come to see the display each year.

“It’s a very powerful display that really catches you,” Flyer said. “A lot of people are really sad when they see the shirts, which is understandable.”

Others who see the display are angry sexual violence has affected so many, and some are uncomfortable, Flyer said.

Regardless of their reactions, those who come will find “a safe space where survivors of sexual violence and allies come together in solidarity to break the silence and raise awareness about sexual violence,” according to the group’s Web site.

The people who decorate shirts remain anonymous, as Clothesline keeps no record of them, and they design their T-shirts in a private area, Flyer said.

They can choose to put their first name or initials on their design, but not their full name for legal reasons.

Siegel estimated that in past years, 1,000 to 2,000 people came out to see the shirts hung out and design a few themselves during the three-day display.

She stressed that all members of the community were welcome to participate, not just UCLA students.

“We provide them with blank T-shirts; we provide everything,” Siegel said. “(Eventually) half the quad is shirts made by UCLA students.”

The UCLA chapter now boasts over 500 shirts, according to its Web site. T-shirts can be made throughout the year as well as during the spring display.

“You see a lot of different emotions (on the shirts),” Flyer said. “Everyone comes from a different place. ... People heal differently.”

During the display, the Clothesline Project will put on several workshops on sexual violence issues and education on domestic violence. Counselors from the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center and the UCLA Center for Women & Men will be on site, Flyer said, along with representatives from UCLA Clothesline Project, who were trained to counsel victims who may want to come forward.

On the display’s final evening, Clothesline will host the annual “Take Back the Night” rally “to resist sexual violence and support survivors” in De Neve Plaza, according to its Web site.

The rally, which will include various speakers and performers, will begin at 5 p.m. and end with a candlelight vigil and a march around Westwood from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The marchers will travel from De Neve Plaza to the corner of Landfair and Gayley avenues, then to the southern intersection of the two streets and back up Gayley.

The national Clothesline Project started in 1990 when several Cape Cod women’s groups wanted to bring the issue of violence against women to light, according to its official Web site.

Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which began three years earlier, visual artist Rachel Carey-Harper proposed hanging T-shirts on a clothesline to draw attention to the issue, as laundry was considered women’s work.

The group estimated that there are now 500 Clothesline Projects worldwide, in at least 41 states and five countries, with a total of 50,000 to 60,000 shirts designed by victims or loved ones.

Public events such as the display and rally help “people know that there is a support group here for them” and that many others have been affected as well, Siegel said.

“Whether people know it or not, everybody has been impacted one way or another by sexual violence,” Siegel said. “There are people throughout the entire community who, unfortunately have been impacted by sexual violence. It happens to a lot more people than they think.”

For more information, visit the

Clothesline Project Web site at

www.laclotheslineproject.com or the Women for Change Week Web site at www.women4change.ucla.edu.