WANDERLOVE Closing & FIBER ART Takedown

A moment to reflect and a moment to continue nurturing creative endeavors in the Dan River Region.

A Letter from the DMFAH Executive Director to WANDERLOVE contributors

The summer has changed to fal, and it is with heavy hearts that we take down WANDERLOVE: A Stitch in Time. We all knew that this would be a temporary exhibition with an ephemeral bent. The bright fibers have faded, and we have seen the public respond by sometimes taking a part of a fiber piece with them.

However, the time and effort spent by community partners and individuals to help knit, crochet, up-cycle, sew and participate in Danville’s largest community engagement fiber exhibition, is not forgotten – nor will it ever be. The love of this labor was not lost on many who could enjoy the Riverwalk and its bright installation as they came out of a reclusive and lonely COVID-19 winter. It is important to talk about what happens after the exhibition comes down tomorrow at 6pm, when volunteers will be gathering at the Main Street JTI Fountain outside of Me’s Restaurant with scissors, black trash bags and able hands.

First let me outline the goals we had for the WANDERLOVE: A Stitch in Time project, and then invite you to fill out a WANDERLOVE survey. Please indicate on the online survey if you are an individual knitter or if your group participated. We appreciate all feedback – we want to make sure our community engagement programs grow, and we cannot move forward if we do not listen your thoughts as to what made the program successful and what needs more work and effort to correct.

Goal #1: Our goal was to provide a creative opportunity for the community to work on a project that could be done together while apart – a project that will culminate into something beautiful and uplifting during a difficult and frustrating time during the pandemic year. We knew this colorful project would alleviate stress, and allow people to look forward to the spring and summer, when the project finally came together for all to enjoy in an outdoor setting.

Goal #2: Secondly, we wanted to support the City of Danville and the River District, which rely on tourists to boost the economy. During the WANDERLOVE: a Stitch in Time installation, the exhibition served 6,007 people on the Riverwalk Trail; many came from out of town to see this outdoor fiber installation.

Goal #3: Thirdly, the museum wanted to offer this fiber installation and the process of seeing it through from the beginning to the actual install, and then its takedown as a communal creative act that inspires, teaches and offers new creative opportunities for interns, high school volunteers, creative organizations and individuals. We wanted to share the way creative place-making formats work, and how it can not only inspire, but empower the local community to claim their individual voices and their individual talents.

The DMFAH thanks all who put in this tremendous effort to help us create and grow a community engagement platform that can be put into action again for next summer. This was an investment of time, of skill, of spirit; it will live long after the show comes down.

All material taken down from the Riverwalk Trail will be washed, and we will invite all participating WANDERLOVE groups and individuals as well as new community partners to push the material further. Please reach out to the Museum at info@danvillemuseum.org if you have a specific project in mind, and you would like some of the WANDERLOVE material. Our new WANDERLOVE: A Stitch in Time partners will be the youth and community centers of Danville and Pittsylvania County. We will be working with the Parks and Rec youth groups, and also the new Green Street Community Center to provide material for fiber lab classes. We will also be working with the Fashion House and their designers to come up with innovative ways to repurpose the knitted and crocheted as well as sewn panels, and we will be offering Fiber Lab classes at our very own Swanson Studio behind the museum.

This is not the end, it is the beginning of supporting community creative endeavors, and we hope to see your continued participation as we share materials and share skills to offer transformative art practices. Thank you to all who laid the foundation for Creative PlaceMaking programming.

Please help us by participating in a quick survey that you can fill out online or print it out and mail in to us at 975 Main Street, Danville, Virginia 24541. We would love to hear back from you. Also, let us know if you would like us to save any of the material for you or your group.

Click to open: Wanderlove: A Stitch in Time Survey

THANK YOU!

Elsabé Dixon

Executive Director

Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History