I have developed and facilitated three community arts maker projects for migrant women interested in stitch and textiles. All three projects have been in partnership with William Langford Community house, a not for profit centre delivering a range of services and programs to migrant communities in the City of Gosnells and surrounding areas.
MAKING-Community (2019) in collaboration with textile artist and educator Dr Anne Farren
MAKING-Community was a 12-month social enterprise project. Anne and I designed the project with the collaborative input of a group of migrant women from William Langford Community House. The key objective was to design and deliver a weekly series of socially inclusive workshops and seminars, to nurture and incubate grassroots micro business and entrepreneurial enterprises in eco/recycling/upcycling of wearables and interior furnishings.
Making-things-possible (2020-21) in collaboration with community program educator Nicola Fisher
This two year program followed on from MAKING-Community. Nicola and I worked with the same group of local women, to develop their textiles and making skills to create saleable products. The project offered opportunities for collaboration with other women and makers, through exposure to different textile processes via a weekly program of interactive learning workshops and master classes.
DESIGN-STITCH-GATHER (2022) in collaboration with transpersonal art therapist and designer Dr Dianne Smith and Community program educator Nicola Fisher
In this eight week project Dianne, Nicola and I engaged with first and second generation migrant women to develop their creative skills, and apply these to create a finished piece of 3 or 3D work. This involved hands on learning in the use of art and craft matters, to understand the process involved in developing ideas and designing/creating in response to them. Issues that offered the women opportunities for investigation included: myth, past lives; ancestral and cultural histories; journeys to Australia; grief and loss of lifestyle and loss of cultural ritual, and daily practices.
