Marwen is an art center for children in downtown Chicago, IL. There are various after school programs in painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, prints, metal, and fiber.
Although I normally do not teach children, I was interested in the program at Marwen, so I did it. It was fantastic! Great experience.
I introduced traditional SASHIKO (stitching) and BORO (stitching). Boro is a rug or waste cloth, and patched and mendid to repair originally in Japan. It can be an art form. Since we wanted to use all indigo blue shades, Rachel who invited me to teach a workshop, dyed fabric previously to make several shades of blue. Although I was not sure how much children can sew, many students (6th and 7th grade) tried to sew and they were fine! Children are very flexible and try to challenge a new art form. The workshop was a short time. Even so, Rachel will continue to instruct them to teach stitching following classes. Then after finishing the pieces, they will be displayed for the exhibition in the gallery at Marwen. Children will be excited to see their accomplishment.
