JAMES WOOD
Staff Writer
After a long period of planning and coordination, a new display has been set up at the Fly Arts Center to showcase a variety of crochet art pieces made by women in the Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) program at the Bedford County Jail.
The primary intention of the exhibit are to allow the community to see the work of the crochet club in the jail, opening up an opportunity to appreciate the women who created these art pieces.
Susie Kentfield, a volunteer for the MRT program and one of the individuals who worked to put on this presentation at the Fly, highlighted her goals with the women in the MRT program and the crochet showcase.
“The goal is to spread awareness of what it happening in our town,” Kentfield said, “it’s about educating our community about what is happening in the community.”
Kentfield, who came to Tennessee from Washington state four years ago, started serving in the MRT program since 2023, seeking to find ways to become more connected to her new community in a meaningful way. Her other goal for the exhibited was to offer an output for the women who crocheted the art pieces from inside the jail. An important point of this is to provide recognition that many inmates in the jail never have received.
“This was to fulfill a dream of the women of the MRT crochet club,” she said, “to bring to fruition of this dream after a long time.”
She also spoke on the best ways to get connected to the MRT program at the Bedford County Jail.
Lieutenant Chris Cook and Ronnie Price are two points of contact at the Bedford County Justice Complex that have worked to allow the public to participate in helping at the MRT classes held in the jail.Donations like books, yarn and other things used by inmates also are accepted.
The exhibits will also remain up at the Fly Arts Center for the public to view through the month of March.
