29 May An inspiring story of community craftivism
A while ago a photo popped up on the CC facebook page from a lady called Lolo Margaret Jackson. The photo was of handmade bunting tied to railings, with stitched letters spelling out the message ‘You are loved’. Similar to the ‘become who you are’ bunting Sarah C made back in 2011.
Then Laura got in touch to send us her inspiring story behind the bunting. So here it is…
You Are Loved – The Story
“Around 10 years ago a small group of people starting living out the belief that if you want to see the change, you have to be the change. They moved into a neighbourhood where people sell themselves to make a living- where drugs, crime and abuse are all too common.
I joined up with these friends about 3 years ago asking myself what could I do to make the neighbourhood a better place. I had struggled to make positive choices for myself and I wondered how to help other. I started a semi-regular gathering I endearingly call “The Saturday Night Club”. The idea is simply to help people get together to make healthy choices on a Saturday night.
One of the members found the Craftivism site and suggested we do something similar. We wanted to communicate something to the people in our neighbourhood- that they are worth more than they even know! I thought “You Are Loved”. How simple, yet so profound.
So a bunch of us got together some friends- some with a lot of sewing experience, others with none at all, but we all worked together! The result is pictured here and the response has already been great.
The responses have ranged from kids walking by saying thank you, to people wondering when it will get vandalized or stolen. I hope it is up there for a while and I hope it warms many people’s heart.” (Words: Laura Jackson)
Laura’s story perfectly captures so many elements of the craftivist ethos. It shows how craftivism can bring people in a community together as a means of creative outlet, regardless of skills or ability and how the simplest messages are often the most powerful. The bunting was made by Laura and members of the little flowers community, in Winnipeg, Canada and is hung outside of Laura’s home.
Further still, the bunting provoked a number of responses from people who saw it and stimulated conversation – even if some people thought it would get vandalised or stolen, it makes people want to appreciate it while it is still there and maybe even make people think on how they could get together and improve the neighbourhood in more positive ways.
Sharing ideas and inspiration is at the heart of craftivism and the Craftivist Collective’s mission and we’d like to say a lovely thank you to Laura and all who worked on the bunting, for sharing their story with us. We look forward to hearing about your future craftivism projects!
We’d love more people to send us their craftivist stories and pictures, so, as a collective and community, we can all inspire and support each other to bring about social change. Email us at craftivist.collective@gmail.com
Posted by Lorna McBride
charlottepb
Posted at 08:09h, 31 Mayso inspirational! What a real difference you have made to peoples lives who really need and need help to access it for themselves. You should be super proud of yourself!