Volume #1 The Process | May 22 2021
WANDERLOVE Monthly News & Updates
The Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History would like to give a shout-out to all who are participating in knitting, crocheting, gathering, cutting, stitching, sewing, donating, funding, sponsoring, leading workshops, and in becoming a community partner for this Danville and Pittsylvania County as well as Caswell County Fiber Arts Project during a long and difficult Pandemic Year.
WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU!!! Thank you for your tremendous Spirit and Grit! And for your creativity and resilience!
Upcoming Events: Gathering All Fiber Work For a Gallery Exhibition on Craghead Street in JUNE.
Please drop off all fiber panels, knitting and crochet pieces at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History.

Be sure to tag your pieces with your name or your group's name (or both).

All work will be transported to a new pop-up gallery on Craghead Street right next to Mucho's restaurant where the public can see the work come together in a show of color, of labor, of cooperation and resilience.

Fiber Panels will start being installed on Thursday June 1. The public opening reception will be at the pop-up gallery on Saturday, June 26 from 2pm to 4pm.
Suzette Willkins, dedicated her crochet pieces to a friend and her experience with cancer
WANDERLOVE Installation Dates for the Riverwalk Trail: June 27 - July 3
All install-sites are located along the Danville River District River Trail between the Martin Luther King Bridge and the pedestrian crossing bridge behind the Science Center.

Participating Groups can pick up their work from the DMFAH Craghead Pop-up Gallery next to Mucho's Restaurant between the hours of 10am to 5pm.

A Museum intern or volunteer will assist you in getting your work to your site for installation and provide you with equipment and with water. Bring a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses! We will provide the needles and thread.

THANK YOU TO CREMA & VINE FOR PROVIDING WATER DURING THE INSTALLATION WEEK.
Service Spotlight: The DMFAH thank our WANDERLOVE Spokes - The Danville/Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce; Parks and Rec; The Dan River Basin Association; The River District Association; and Goodwill Industries of the Valleys; SOVAH Health; as well as the Pittsylvania and Danville Public Libraries, for leading the efforts on this Project.
With the help of the Danville/Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce and Parks and Recreation, the DMFAH was able to obtain a marketing grant from the Virginia Tourist Corporation, which gave us incentive to move forward on this large community outreach project in spite of COVID19. Knitters and makers could work collectively through the difficult pandemic winter months, while staying apart and safe in their own homes. Goodwill of the Valleys helped us obtain the materials to tie the entire project and the smaller handmade items together, and an anonymous helper aided us in bringing together the larger color panels. The Dan River Basin Association and Randy Brown from Parks and Recreation was instrumental in helping us assess the river sites along the River Trail, and the River District Association helped us obtain our permits for the project. The Libraries spread the word on WANDERLOVE, and reached many in isolation during the pandemic. They also conducted their own knitting workshops. We are tremendously grateful for this support and for these partnerships.
We also want to give a shout-out to the City and to Rick Drazenovich and his team, who will guide us through the installation process. SOVAH Health gave us our first sponsorship, and endorsed the health benefits of this project for all participants.
Sherry Hines, Southside District Manager for Goodwiil Industries of the Valleys attending a Friday Museum Fiber Lab Session in April.
Park Maintenance Director Randee Brown, Sonja Wolen from DRBA, and Kirsten Halverson Aherron from the River District Association kicked off the first site inspections in February of 2021 along the Dan River Trail on a cold winter Friday.
Service Spotlight: The DMFAH thanks our Community Partners. You are the pillars that support the WANDERLOVE project!
  • Christy Harper from the Danville/Pittsylvania Chamber who helped the DMFAH procure seamstresses
  • VCU Massey Cancer Center
  • Smokestack Theater Company
  • Main Street Art Collective .
  • Making Danville Smile
  • Evelyn Riley Dan River Non-Profit Networks
  • Rachel Timm and the Mt. Vernon Library
  • Lisa Tuite and the Pittsylvania Public Libraries
  • Goodwill Industries of the Valleys
  • Anonymous Knitting Mill (50 panels!!!)
  • Green Rock Correctional Center
  • Boys and Girls Club (Danville and Chatham)
  • Crochet Guild of Prince William County, James Holtman
  • Angela Longerbeam Group Pittsylvania County Public Library
  • Ressie Luck and History United
  • CCECC & Averett University
  • Langhorne House Museum
  • The Fashion House
  • Fred Motley
  • Crema & Vine
  • The Haven
  • The Union Church Knitting Group
Main Street Art Collective, who helped the DMFAH conduct Fiber Lab workshops in the River District when the mask mandates were relaxed.Contact Cheryl Sutherlin for more information.
https://mainstreetartcollective.com/
Green Rock Correctional Center has completed two large containers filled with finger knitted contributions from the knitting group that they have assembled. Thank you to Shelby Harrell for coordinating these groups, and for giving the DMFAH a front page shout-out in a Star-Tribune article!
Historian Clara Fountain led the Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church group in knitting for the WANDERLOVE project. .
Charlotte Garrett from both the Concert Association and the VCU Massey Cancer Center participating in a Fiber Lab workshop held in the DMFAH Auditorium.
Liz Cervantes, Director of Collidescope and Adrien participating in DMFAH Fiber Lab workshops. Their group has already completed five 8 foot panels!!!
Smokestack Theater Company selecting their logo black and white. Watch for these panels on the Riverwalk! They are going for pattern not color. who showed people that you can mix improve performance with a WANDERLOVE Sip & Sew event at 2Witches Brewery!
The Dan River Non-profit Networks, working up five panels in one evening at 2Witches Brewery. Thank you to collaborators Mac and Kellie Wyatt!!!
Felice McWilliams led the troops for both "Making Danville Smile" and for Friday morning Museum Fiber Labs. She also participated in the WANDERLOVE Fiber Canvas initiative to create awareness for WANDERLOVE around town by hanging canvases created from fiber in medical office buildings, banks and other public spaces. We hope to inspire a new wave of makers and creatives by reminding them how easy it is to work with fiber.
Louise Martling from 11th Hour Design sewed together the first circles that will be installed on the Pedestrian Bridge. Thank you to Felice McWilliams and to Liz Cervantes for contributing to these circular pieces. The Crochet Guild of Prince William County will use this format to cover the manholes on the River Trail.
Tripp Hayes working with the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History Intern Team to put lay color strips on dark panels sewn together by an anonymous Knitting Mill. We also thank John Sheridan and Aidan Thomas for helping load up and sort the up-cycled sweaters.
Barbara Stanfield puts together a green, orange, and light blue panel for the VCU Massey Cancer Group. Barbara bought herself a sewing machine when she graduated from high school, and has never stopped sewing.
Nathan putting the last finishing touches on a Dan River Non-profits Network fiber panel at the Smokestack Improv session held at 2Witches Brewery.
Past Navy Admiral Tom Kearney says the Navy taught him to make his bed every morning and take care of all personal sewing. Sewing is a life skill that everybody should feel comfortable with.
Angela DelGiorno confessed that sewing is fun! " I have not done this for so long! it really brings back memories!" She enjoyed seeing so many participate in the Crema and Vine SIP&SEW.
Kelly Cunningham from the Danville Fashionhouse securing some stitches during a Crema and Vine Sip &Sew.
Kathy Hurt and her team from VCU Massey Cancer Center putting their panel colors together. Kathy will be collecting COVID19 Cancer stories during the making of the WANDERLOVE project.
Suzanne Sadler selected green for her group's panel.
Rachel Timm brought in the knitting made by the Mt. Vernon Library Group. She also gave a great presentation on the History of Yarn Bombing through the Friends of the Danville Library group book discussions.

On the left, Helen Earle prepares Yarn for the Museum Wednesday Fiber Lab which she leads. Thank you, Helen, for the Wednesday class, and thank you, Felice McWilliams, for the Friday class 10am -12 noon.
Almost there - ONE MONTH to the Finish Line!
WANDERLOVE OPENS ON JULY 4th
Work Collected will be tagged and put in Craghead Street POP-UP Gallery next to Mucho's Restaurant. Come, Check it out. Starting to hang panels on June 1, 2021. Public Opening Reception on Saturday June 26.
Installation Maps and Calendar Schedules will be ready for pick up at the Museum.
WANDERLOVE Installation dates for the Riverwalk: June 27 - July 3 from 10am-5pm
Museum staff member Aidan Thomas will be leading the new WANDERLOVE Interns through the process of this large community engagement project.

If you are interested in helping out with the install process contact us at the museum.
434.793.5648