First Place in Waste to Art!

Two woman standing next to a quilt constructed from blue medical textiles recovered from the Parnassus Operating room including scrub caps, bunny suits, and disposable scrub jackets. An image of a birthing mother is overlaid made out of braided strips of material, evoking Black hair braiding techniques.

April 21, 2026

Isabel Alves de Lima, Leah Pimentel, MBA and Charlene M. Blake, MD, PhD won first place in UCSF’s Waste to Art challenge 2026 for their piece, "Birth and Rebirth: Black Maternal Mortality Explored Through the Quilting Tradition." The winning quilt will be displayed at the Mission Bay Children's Hospital.

In the US, Black women are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. Isabel constructed the quilt, an exploration of this reality, from medical textiles recovered from the UCSF Mission Bay Operating rooms including scrub caps, bunny suits, and disposable scrub jackets. The pieces used honor the Waste to Art principle of finding beauty and meaning in creating anew with what is too easily thrown away.

The quilting tradition connects generations of women to those that came before us, much like childbirth. The 'Bricklayer' quilt pattern is inspired by the Gee's Bend quiltmakers, "a group of women and their ancestors from the Gee’s Bend area of Alabama’s rural Black Belt, whose quilts are celebrated as some of the most significant artistic contributions to American art history." Their legacy lives in this work and the belief that everyday materials can carry extraordinary meaning.

The team used braided strips of material to create and overlay the image of a birthing mother. These strips evoke Black hair braiding techniques. Black hair braiding is an art form, an act of care, connection, bonding and cultural memory.

The quilt was made in memory of Leah's aunt, Leola, who passed away during childbirth while bringing twins into the world. Her loss is one that far too many Black families know.

Waste to Art is UCSF’s annual challenge dedicated to transforming waste (including medical and laboratory waste) into incredible, inspiring art pieces.

References:

brown and green geometric quilt pregnant woman with purple flowers crouching down black and grey quilt with geometric patterns