Posts Tagged ‘artist-in-residency’

NH: Live Free and DIY!

Isn’t that how the motto goes? I’m back home in NYC, but my heart is still up in New Hampshire, and it feels like my scissor hand is still twitching in my sleep after all the T-shirt refashioning we did! Altogether, the students at the Kenneth A. Brett School upcycled (new vocabulary term for many of the kids in my group!) more than 150 T-shirts over the four days. Below are some of the highlights from the last two days of my artist-in-residency! (And if you want more proof of the fun we had, check out the photos posted over at the Tamworth Arts Council blog.) I miss these kids already…

A lace-up tank top with mismatched sides (#16 in Generation T); another lace-up top with braided multi-colored stitching.

Some in-process braiding and knotting — to complete the finishing touches on two “Mohawk Mo’ Rock” no-sew hats (project #72 in Generation T: Beyond Fashion).

Two finished, fringed hats!

But what’s a finished hat without matching glovelets (#103 in Generation T: Beyond Fashion)? Or a pair of tie-dyed glovelets without multicolored fingernails?

Going with the tie-dye theme, here’s a tie-dye version of Back in Action (#101 in Generation T: Beyond Fashion); plus a sunshine-filled pillow (#30 in Generation T: Beyond Fashion)!

Another completed pillow; a matching totebag (for his mom to use while grocery shopping) and headband (for him).

Some in-progress laced-up glovelets; an innovative visor made from the neckband of a T-shirt (with sun-shielding neck protection, of course!).

A pillow for catnapping; a no-sew tote bag–already filled with books!

DIY hats, tank tops, headbands, and wristbands…

Pillows, pillows, and more pillows!

Hats, hats, and more hats!


[ 4 Comments | Posted on March 14th, 2012 ]

Refashioning T-shirts with Students in NH

After my artist-in-residency at Holderness School last March, I was invited to take part in a program at the Kenneth A. Brett School this winter (thanks to the Art Council of Tamworth). Here are some highlights from our first two days with the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. On Day 1, students made either a no-sew pillow (project #30 from Generation T: Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt) or the Outer Lace tank top (project #16 from Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt). On Day 2, they chose between making a no-sew mohawk-style hat (project #72, GT:BF) or the Back in Action tee (project #101, GT:BF). And a few students were inspired to use their scraps to become ninjas! Here they are getting crafty:

Stay tuned for Days 3 and 4! More crafty times ahead…

[ 1 Comment | Posted on March 8th, 2012 ]

Plymouth, NH @ Holderness Artward Bound

Because there’s nothing quite like March in New England, I’m heading north with Generation T to spend quality time with some creative teenagers at Holderness School as part of an artist-in-residency program called Artward Bound (like Outward Bound, but with art!). I’ll be sharing the time and space with eight other artists, who are all working around the central theme: Re-make it New. According to the mission and description of the 2011 program, we will “explore and celebrate…invention and resourcefulness. Re-source, re-use, re-make, re-balance, re-mix, reflect are the keywords that allow us to effectively tap the past, within the present, in order to construct a creative and sustainable future. Artists and performers of every kind are confronted with the daily challenge of making something new out of what is before them. It is said, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’ Never has that been more true, than in the eco-era of today. Invention is the ability to bring dissimilar ideas, tools, experience, and materials together in ways that surprise, instruct and lead.” That sure sounds all right to me!

Though the daytime class sessions are private, the evening performances are open to the community (including two eco-fashion shows premiering my students’ T-shirt refashion work) , and I’ll be posting more information about them as it becomes available. In the meantime, we’ll be sure to post plenty of pictures to share our progress throughout the two weeks that we get creative together!

Materials for the Generation T fashion workshops have been generously provided by the following sponsors:

[ 2 Comments ]