Overview
Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism calls upon craft, during an era of political disruption, as a creative force to voice dissent, express hope, critique the curtailment of civil rights, and to restore dignity to the human experience. The essays and artwork featured in this exhibition catalogue are framed within the context of American democracy and disclose how we, as individuals and as a culture, “craft democracy” and ultimately question what democracy means today.
For the exhibition schedule, visit https://www.craftingdemocracy.com/
Juilee Decker is associate professor of museum studies at Rochester Institute of Technology. Decker is a scholar and practitioner of museum studies and public history. Her publications include the 3rd edition of Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums (2017) and the four-volume series Innovative Approaches for Museums (2015). Her monograph, Sculpting Her Legacy: Enid Yandell, Kentucky’s Pioneer Artist, is forthcoming from University Press of Kentucky. Decker earned her PhD from the joint program in Art History and Museum Studies at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
HInda Mandell is associate professor in the School of Communication at Rochester Institute of Technology and is a co-editor of Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election (University of Rochester Press, 2018); the author of Sex Scandals, Gender and Power in Contemporary American Politics (Praeger, 2017) and co-editor of Scandal in a Digital Age (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). She is editor of Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats (forthcoming with Rowman & Littlefield). Her website is omghinda.com and her Twitter account is: @hindamandell and @crochetactivism.
Details
Publisher: RIT Press (08/2019)
ISBN-13: 978-1-939125-59-0
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 128
Illustrations: 63
Size: 5.25 x 7 in.
Shipping Weight: 1lb
Reviews
Rebel with a Cause! This book exemplifies why craftivism has been at the forefront of our political movement. Through contemporary art with fibers, this book bridges idealism and intersectionality.
—Diane Ivey, Owner and Creative Director of Lady Dye Yarns
Crafting Democracy helps us see, think, and imagine democracy anew. It couldn't have come at a better time.
—Jill Swiencicki, researcher of feminist and social justice rhetoric
These craftivist works represent a powerful and important length of the red thread that weaves together women’s political dissent through the ages.
—Victoria Van Orden Martínez, historical researcher and writer
Maker communities affirm democratic ideals through quiet acts of generosity and resistance. By preserving and sharing our crafts, we promote empowerment and transformation for all.
—Jennifer Lindsay, Community Artist, Curator, Scholar, Educator, and President of the Center for Knit and Crochet
'Crafting Democracy' fights fire with fiber By Rebecca Rafferty in City Newspaper
Press Releases
Table of Contents
Foreword
Betty M. Bayer
Curatorial Statement
Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell
Craft as DIY, Open Source Activism of the Twenty-First Century
Juilee Decker
Threading Craft and Activism: Reflections from a Tailor’s Granddaughter
Hinda Mandell
Aftershock: Curating Resistance in the Trump Era
Beth McLaughlin
Democracy Sandwich: Enacting Gender and Resisting Injustice in Art Quilting
Alena Amato Ruggerio
Museums, Textiles, and the Everyday
Kate Bonansinga
The Kudzu Project: Vinebombing Virginia’s Confederate Monuments
Margo Smith
Works in the Exhibition
Afterword: Spinning Material Messages
Sarah Parrish
Acknowledgments
Image Credits
Index