"The Community Threads collaborative public art project is a brainchild of mine and Megan Charland's. I proposed this idea, to cover the fence in panels of knotted/woven fibers - fibers collected from community members' donations - but I assumed I would have to complete this project on my own. Megan wanted to do a collaborative yarn-bombing project alongside a fiber art exhibition, so we combined our ideas and made it happen. The panels are made from chicken wire and the fibrous surface area was knotted/woven by me and any community member who wanted to participate. There are many, many hands in this project. The whole point was to gather material donations from the community and invite anyone/everyone to come to work days and physically put their hands into working on the piece so that the end result was a tangible representation of our community coming together to create something beautiful." – Patricia Downs

The Community Threads public art installation on our fence, in conjunction with the exhibition by the same name Community Threads: Fiber Art Exhibition, was created in celebration of “Fiber Arts February.” Patricia Downs set the heartbeat for the collaboration between local fiber artists and community members. The Strand hosted pieces of textile art from artists, Suzanne Hokanson, Martha Jackson, Mona Raye Grubbs, and Patricia Downs in our gallery from February 10th to March 25th, 2023. The exhibit also showcased pieces from Home and Career Skills for 6th grade students, from Stafford Middle School.

Team Member Angelika Morris had the opportunity to correspond with Patricia over email about her role in this community art effort.

Q: What does community mean to you and how does it play a role in your art?

A: In my work I try to use almost exclusively repurposed material. Some of it I buy from thrift stores and yard sales, and some of it is donated to me from local community members. I like using material that has already had a life, and most likely has lived part of that life in our community. Then, through my art practice, that material gets transformed into something that people can enjoy in a different way. Community is at the heart of what I do. I want whoever initially owned the material I use to have a piece of themselves, a continuation of their story, in my final product. In this way, I am not only telling my own story through my work, I am telling a multitude of stories. To me, community is about coming together to tell those stories.

Q: What do you think will stick with you the most from this art effort?

A: I think the most rewarding aspect of the Community Threads public art project has been learning new perspectives and new/different modes of creating. When given the same prompt, everyone who has helped me to create the project approached it in a unique way. It really opened my mind to the possibilities for the project, and it forced me out of my comfort zone. I will be taking what I learned back to the “studio” (my tiny apartment) to implement in my work.

Q: Where do you find your greatest inspiration for your work?

A: A lot of the inspiration for my work comes from the material itself. I am inspired by textures and color. Sometimes I am drawn to material first and the concept comes later. I often look to the material to guide me in what it wants to become, and each move I make informs the next. I am also inspired by my own experience in life and as a woman. I have used my art practice to work through traumas and memories, as well as to express emotions or thoughts that are too intangible to express with words.

Q: What is next for you and your art?

A: I really want to spend more time experimenting with materials and processes. I want to play and see what happens. I want to explore the whole realm of soft materials - not just fabric and yarn - and contrast them with media I don’t usually use, such as hardware. I want to delve more into color and color theory within my works. I feel like I’ve been working in black and white, using only analogous color schemes in my pieces lately, and I want to spend more time using color relationships within each work. I have been spending some of my studio time on applying to open calls, residencies, grants, and other artist opportunities, so depending on the outcome of those applications, I might have new things on the horizon. I always have at least 5 works in progress going at once, so for now those are what I will be working on and experimenting with.

The results of community and art show proudly on the side of the Strand’s fence. Numerous hands from our own community pieced together this colorful display. One can say it is a symbol of the true mission of the arts. To weave together culture, community, and creativity.

You can see the efforts of this on the Strand fence during our first Artisan Market of the season on April 1st!