We are honored to be a part of the 20th annual Chicago Artists Month's celebration of the City as Studio. Our series, Craft(ing) Culture(s), consists of a series of workshops and events from October 3rd- November 6th. Immigrant and refugee communities play an integral role in the constant reconfiguration of the City. Melding old and new, prosaic and unprecedented, pragmatic and quixotic, these communities are essential, generative contributors and leaders for a greater collective imagining of Chicago.
This program highlights the role of art and craft in the lives of immigrant and refugee women. Embroidery, knitting and quilting have a long history as artful expressions, particularly among women around the world. These crafting forms are a means of conveying life experience, wisdom, hardship, joy and the vast panoply of human experience. Deliberately dismantling barriers between the "art world" and refugee communities, an unusual combination of artists and organizations are collaborating on this project to celebrate resilience, reinvention and reiteration.