One of our goals last year was to get out in the community more, find more meaning with our work, connect more with the roots of what we do and why we do it. So bing bada bing....we are actually following up and making that happen this year!
I have been working as a teaching artist through Arts in Education of the Gorge out of Hood River. Arts in Ed has been linking artists to schools in the Hood River area and other rural areas surrounding us. With the lack of funding for arts in everyday schooling now they are doing much needed work making this connection!
This is a small part of the puzzle of our very complicated education system but seeing the kids respond to working directly with their hands and making something they can use feels like a good way to spend some time. As society directs our attention towards so much technology, competition, consumption, and busy work I see that kids feel an innate pull to crafts and this meditative work of creating something tangible. Young kids actually feel drawn to go back to some of the work they may have only seen their grandmothers doing. Is this the skills of the future? Back to the basics in some respects, we at Blowfish, kind of hope so.
A big part of the work I would like to continue to teach, and learn, about is using existing fabrics and up cycling clothes or other textiles we already have around. Not only does this take away a barrier or cost, but it is also better for our environment and teaches kids a valuable lesson in one of my favorite things....resourcefulness!!
Here are some pics of some projects I have been working on at the Dalles Middle School and at a residency at May Street Elementary. I look forward to using the teaching as a side avenue of Blowfish to get out into our community, leave my bubble, and constantly remind me of why I chose to do this work by sharing it with others.
