Blue Circles is a community art project developed by Amanda Christine Harth for her residency SAIC at Homan Square.
I visited this Community Conversation and Quilt Installation, and so glad I did.
On Friday, September 30th, 2022, I joined an open-ended community conversation about Chicago's textile art and craft communities and their interrelating histories.
What is Chicago's textile history, and what can we do to remember that history while creating its present and imagining its future?
This conversation occurred in Nichols Tower, part of Chicago's textile history. Once part of the original Sears, Roebuck & Company, the building now hosts the School of the Art Institute's Homan location. Several community quilts will be displayed during the conversation as a reminder of Chicago's rich quilting history and to link this gathering to the tradition of quilting circles as a community gathering, planning, and healing site. Featured quilts include A quilt from recent denim dying and quilting workshop participants at SAIC Homan, a "circle work" quilt made by Teen Creative Agency, and quilts from a local church.
Gatherings like quilting circles, sewing clubs, embroidery protests, and knitting collectives inspired this community conversation! So, in the spirit of those gatherings, bring your projects (knitting, crochet, embroidery, card weaving, quilt squares, fashion sketching, hand stitching, lace work--whatever!) to work on during the conversation. Some basic materials will be on hand if you don't have a project to bring. Then, CTW representatives and makers of the quilts on display will give brief opening remarks to set the stage for the remainder of the program.
RESOURCE: Sickler Welcome Blanket Kits, 2000 Miles of Warm
Sickler Welcome Blanket Kits, 2000 Miles of Warm Welcomeblanket.org, Making change with Art & Activism-Craftivism. Partnering with refugee resettlement agencies & immigrant aid groups to distribute blanks.
Donating quilts to those in need of a warm welcome. What better way to welcome than a pretty, fun, and useful blanket? The need is great.
Where are the blankets going?
Your blankets are helping three organizations:
THE IRC, our refugee resettlement partner, works with asylum seekers who have been released from detention.
Miry's List a movement dedicated to welcoming new arrival refugee families.
Catholic Charities USA, aiding in their Helping at the Boarder program.
Learn More:
Miry's List: https://miryslist.org/
Catholic Charities USA: https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/story/helping-at-the-border/
The Welcome Blanket: https://www.welcomeblanket.org/welcome-note
