Calling all Craftivists and Future Craftivists!
In 2020, I got a commission I wasn't expecting and I reinvested it into the community through the development of a craftivism micro-grant to support a burgeoning project.
The 2020 grant winner was, The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women in Kentucky. A two-week summer camp experience for teens in Appalachia.
The 2023 winner was the Des Plaines Public Library who put together a year-long series of craftivism workshops for their community members. I also awarded a secondary grant to a nonbinary middle school activist from Alaska. They are creating and selling stickers to support the local LGBTQ+ community. You can buy them here!
The 2024 winner is Lapido Famodu, a designers (and former chemist) with the dream of opening a black-owned, community-based metal studio on the south side of Chicago. Ladipo will be using the grant to lay the foundations of his larger dream. Ladipo will facilitate a series of workshops on the lost wax casting method. These workshops will provide an accessible primer on the history of symbols and imagery of Black liberation. Across three sessions, Ladipo will guide a group of participants through the process of object-based storytelling, basic jewelry design, and metal casting using the lost-wax method.
The grant is open to anyone in the US with a great idea and the tenacity to get it done. I want the application to be as easy as possible, but I also want to push folks to think about their project through a craftivist lens. While I am a fiber artist, this is open to all mediums and approaches.
Timeline:
Application Opens 11/17/24
Application Closes 12/20/24 at 11:59pm CT
Winner Announced the first week of 2025
Winner will receive a minimum of $500 and 20 hours of my time as a strategic advisor. PLUS an hour of activism coaching with Omkari Williams!
Winner must submit a blog post report at the end of the project or end of the year (whichever comes first).
Things I’ll be considering…
What is the change you are trying to create?
Does the project directly impact the issue you are addressing?
Can you measure impact?
Who do you need on your team to get it done?
Is it creative, clever, powerful, innovative, actionable, realistic?
Have you considered how I can best support you?
You can submit reasonable questions to BadassCrossStitch@gmail.com
I can’t wait to see what you come up and then support you on your adventure!
Want to see how it went for The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women?
Give a listen to this NPR story about the camp.
Here’s some wrap-up thoughts from the founders:
Year-2 of The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women wrapped up in July, and we've never felt more optimistic about our future programming as we do now. We've received levels of support we could have never predicted and pulled off something that seemed impossible just a few years ago. We saw our vision of girls making genuine connections based on their interests, values, and struggles outside school/church settings come true. Recognizing teen girls as an underserved population in our community was one thing, but actually reaching them in a way they enjoy, feel safe, and want to return, is an entire art of its own; this is where being able to consult with Shannon has helped us most. Traditional lesson planning isn't useful here, we cannot rely on the system we're subverting for guidance in how to do so - we're not waiting for a seat at the table with educators and artists guilds, but they're welcome to join us at the one we're building.
While needlework is the central activity of SNDW, in our eyes, it's just that - an activity. The true value comes from building a space that encourages free thought, hard discussions, and self-expression. We planned several activities and discussions, but we wanted to leave room for workshoppers to take the lead of the dialogue, and they absolutely did. Media literacy, body image, cancel-culture, mental health, gender expression, and the way Appalachia is represented in media, are all subjects they brought to the table. We witnessed them piece together that their own insecurities helped line the pockets of someone else, and that the less they question the status quo, the easier they are to control. It was like watching a switch flip and meeting an entirely new set of girls who were curious, angry, and hungry for change. We remember how powerful those realizations were for us as teenagers, and being able to witness their shift from apathy to well-directed anger from the other side of the table brought hope that we weren't even expecting, especially weeks after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
In our small, politically divided town, we knew that it was a "when," not an "if," that there would be religious backlash against our work; so we weren't particularly surprised when God's warriors took to their keyboards in an attempt to save the children from Satan, feminism, and homosexuality - via Facebook, of course. This speedbump opened the door for us to talk about what was actually happening, and why. Their sense of humor about the situation was refreshing, and their desire to understand both sides was delightfully unexpected. We dove deep into the general fear of change amongst our community, why it exists, and how progress never arrives uncontested - while experiencing it, together.
We've applied for funding to expand our programming into more regular workshops, to help us grow as teaching artists/workshop facilitators by creating meaningful opportunities to build, practice, and refine our subversive, socially conscious art curriculum to be utilized in future programs and consultation, while also continuing to provide space for like-minded teen girls to make connections and express themselves.
If you'd like to support our work, visit firstfridayberea.networkforgood.com and select "The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women" from the designation list.
