EVERYONE HAS A STORY: LET THEM TELL IT. Circle by Sandy Coleman.
On Monday last I participated in a workshop* presented by Nasco Art Education featuring artist Sandy Coleman, creator of the The Community Circle Project. The Project and the class are all about connecting community in a way that allows for self expression. I’m sure you agree that these days we need both.
Sandy and I go back a number of years to when I was still living and hooking in Massachusetts. Members of a local artists’ group, we talked about collaborating on something. Later is better than never, yes?
By day, Sandy is the director of communications and the magazine editor at Wheaton College (Massachusetts). But she’s also an art teacher at the Attleboro Art Museum. Back in January, her Community Circle Project featured prominently in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee of Greater Attleboro’s MLK Jr. holiday programming. At an interfaith service entitled “Breaking through Bias: Accepting Our Differences,” guests were invited to create circles that eventually (when our Covid-19 crisis allows) will become part of a large-scale public display illustrating community and unity.
Artist and Community Circle Project creator Sandy Coleman.
In Sandy’s own words:
I believe that art reminds us of our common humanity. Art invites us to tap into our innate creativity, to experience the process of bringing forth what is imagined into reality and to see what is good within ourselves so that we also can see what is good within others. This all, ideally, not only opens us up to hoping for the best for everyone and for the world, but also moves us to act to bring about good.
I believe that imagining what you want is the first step toward making it happen. All of this is at the heart of the founding of The Community Circle Project, which I created and launched in 2019.
The circle is a symbol of unity, wholeness, connection and inclusion. The Community Circle Project is an ongoing art collaboration and engagement that employs the symbol and the themes evoked as a creative focal point. I facilitate virtual and in-person workshops in which participants are invited to engage in artmaking as well as meaningful conversation. The goal is for us to see our commonalities, our shared humanity and desire for good in our lives, which, ideally, leads to wishing for good in the lives of others, our communities and the world.
Change happens in big and small ways. Each of us can play a role in that, including calling upon the power of creativity for relaxation, reflection and reaching out.
WE ARE POWERFUL TOGETHER. Another one of Sandy’s circles.
During the class, Sandy mentioned that she creates a circle each day, usually in the morning, based on a prompt which can be a statement or perhaps a question à la “what have you learned during the world lockdown? During the recent protests? What dreams do you hold for yourself? Your family? The world?” This journaling both relaxes and energizes her, grounding her for the day ahead.
Monday’s online workshop was primarily directed towards art educators for grades 4 and up. Hey, I teach rug hooking! Actually, I was there because, after Sandy invited my to join the Community Circle Project on Facebook, I saw a post that she was going to be presenting HOW the circles worked, how I could learn to draw them and participate in the project. Remember, Sandy came up with this Community Circle concept last year, well before the nation sat up and really took notice of our systemic racism, before some of us truly woke up and realized that our silence has been complicit. Although, as Sandy generously allowed, “Silence is complicated, not just complicit.” She herself has taken care and time to reflect on how she can add to the conversation. She is doing that through art.
KEEP THE DOOR OPEN. Another one of Sandy’s circles.
But this is art that’s meant to be shared. Art that can and should spark meaningful discussion. And we sure as hell have a discussion now. One we need to ensure keeps going thoughtfully. The Community Circle Project is a way to do just that. Through classrooms of kids, through community workshops, even through individual “circling.”
How many times do we have to be reminded that we have more in common than we don’t? That we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers?
Art gives us a way to reflect on and process the things going on in the world at large and in our own little part of it. How many people miss out on that because they say, “I’m not an artist!”? Everyone can trace a circle or even freehand it. (Another Sandy-ism: “Wonky is wonderful!”) I wish I’d been at the MLK Day service in Attleboro in January to see all the diverse circles that probably we’re actually pretty similar in spirit. Imagine the discussions that came up between parents and kids, between neighbors.
I CAN DO MORE TO BE UNIVERSAL. WHAT MATTERS MOST IS KINDNESS. Surprise! This is the circle I did during the workshop. Clearly, I don’t have the brevity thing down yet.
Let’s keep the conversation going!
Rug hookers and other artists, how about an old-fashioned challenge? Your circles don’t have to be hooked. We all know what it’s like to do letters. Feel free to draw them, if you prefer. Get your kids and grandkids involved.
Linda Towle was the founder of the Adobe Wools Arts Guild, New Mexico’s only rug hooking guild. We miss you, Linda!
This is perhaps the anthem of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild of New Mexicoof which I am the current president. You will hear it whenever any one of us is working a rug and asks the others for advice. That means you and anyone within hearing distance will hear these words:
at guild meetings and retreats;
at Albuquerque’s Botanic Garden in the BioPark where we demonstrate twice a month (in non-Covid 19 months, that is);
whenever and wherever any of us gather together to hook; and
whenever any of us teach – formally or informally.
The guidance can be in regard to most anything involved in rug making.
What color(s) would look best ?
Monk’s cloth, linen, or rug warp?
Wool strips or alternative fibers?
Which frame is best?
How high should my loops be?
Should I use quillies*?
Did I draw this right?
What do you think about _______?
If you’re a rug hooker, you know that the list is endless. Although our rugs are generally solo works of art, we often seek input from others, often those more experienced than ourselves.
We are a small and close-knit group. We are also not shy about expressing ourselves or our opinions. This means that when a hooker asks how he or she should finish their rug, they will often receive 10 or 15 differing opinions. Strident opinions. Discussion will ensue. The poor hooker might be overwhelmed. (We made someone cry once; it wasn’t our finest moment.) But, in the end, it all comes down to the same thing every time: “You are the boss of your rug.”
Being the boss of your rug – or your painting or your quilt or poem or whatever type of art you might make – means that you ultimately choose a design, colors, techniques, and so on. You make the piece with your own hands. And when you’re done with it, it is yours. Hopefully, you share it with the rest of us.
And we are proud of that person’s efforts.
Individually, I might think the rug needs improvement. Maybe blue would’ve worked better than black. Perhaps some of the loops fell out. Hell, maybe I hate the whole design. But it is NOT my rug. It is someone else’s rug, and I respect everything that he or she put into that rug. Or that short story or that piece of pottery.
We are proud that the person cared enough to make a rug. We are proud that he or she put themselves and their ego out there. That they felt safe enough to express themselves artistically in front of us. That they were able to say no to even the most vociferous of us and create their own rug.
Maybe you’re wondering why I bring this up.
March 1: “Costco shopping trip pre-coronavirus. This was extreme hooking even for me. The TP roll was hooked with actual toilet paper. Not the easiest to work with but better than anticipated. Maybe if I spun it… Also wool yarn and strips.
In March, I wrote about my yearlong #RibbonRugJournal project. Basically, every day I hook an entry on a 3-inch or so length of a burlap ribbon roll. The image – more like a sketch – has to do with something from my day. It’s not a Picasso by any means. Burlap ribbon, I’ve found, sucks to hook on. Strings often break. It’s also a small space, not good for a lot of design definition, but I’ve made it over five months so I’ll keep going.
Little did I know in January what kind of year 2020 would be. Holy crap, Batman! Hence, in March the Coronacootie started showing up in my journal. And then in the last few weeks, #blacklivesmatter has dominated the news. As it should. And as we all know, that movement’s collision with politics has been cataclysmic for the country. Naturally, this has also made it into the #RibbonRugJournal.
What do I do with the journal? Every evening after I hook an entry, I take a picture and load it onto High on Hooking’s Instagram. This keeps me honest, plus some folks are following it. (Love you guys!) All of my Instagram posts are automatically loaded onto High on Hooking’s Facebook page. From there I share it on my personal Facebook page.
#ribbonrugjournal June 2: “ELBIB Abuse.” Did he hold that book, respecting it as the sacred item it is? Or did he heft it up as Exhibit A, “proof” of his love of God and his fellow men? I mean after peaceful protesters and clergy were driven from the church with tear gas. For his photo op. The Bible and the world turned upside down.
Tuesday, June 2, I posted a simple image. It was indeed politically motivated. I am not a fan of Mr. Trump and was fairly incensed to see him silently hold a Bible aloft in front of a Church he does not attend after his minions forcibly removed from the church area peaceful protesters and the clergy of that church. You can see that I also made textual comments which you can read.
Later in the evening, I saw that folks had commented on my social media. I’m good with that. But one woman had posted:
Is this the right place for politics? I come here for a break from reality for a bit.
I was taken aback. High on Hooking is my company; it’s Facebook page is my page. While I leave overtly political posts and memes and such for my personal page, this was just an element of another hooked rug project. And I’d posted other occasional political entries before. I explained much of this to the writer. A bit of a dust-up ensued as others came to the defense of my self-expression. I thought that was the end till I turned on my phone Wednesday morning to another comment:
No politics please!
Note the exclamation point. Although I didn’t agree with the first woman, I could understand where she was coming from. But this chick was telling me to not post political content on my own f-ing page! Really! Guess she doesn’t like her rug hooking or her art making her uncomfortable. Or she can’t handle people having a difference of opinion.
My response:
______, this is my page. I don’t compartmentalize my life, especially not my art. Rug hooking allows me to process all of life, not just the easy and good things. Please read responses below.
Lady, and anyone else who didn’t like my #RibbonRugJournal Tuesday night, feel free to pass over my “political” posts or to stop following me if it bothered you that much. You have no right to tell me or to even intimate that I shouldn’t integrate my opinions into my art that I show on my social media. I am the boss of my rugs and my pages!
