Strengthening social fabric through a Community Quilting Project: An art project with the women in Salitre Alto
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| by Hannah Poon. Vickie Corbitt (right) |
Introduction
In the summer of 2012, a team from Buildabridge organized and facilitated a weeklong art camp in a disenfranchised neighborhood of Bogota named Salitre Alto. The camp was aimed at the women and children of this neighborhood. The camp consisted of a number of different art mediums including dance, theatre, music, sculpture, mural painting and quilting. Hannah Poon was responsible for facilitating the quilting class. This was the one option aimed at working with the mothers and women of the community.
The quilting class was situated in the dining room of a local family’s home. The host of the home was also one of the participants. The music class for children was held in an adjacent room of the house. The purpose of this group was to strengthen social fabric by bringing women from the community together to build relationships and talk about ways to strengthen their own communities. The class was facilitated by an artist mentor (Hannah Poon), and three artist mentees who had undergone the Buildabridge classroom training the weekend prior to the commencement of our camp. The class consisted of 13 women all within the ages of 20-50.
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| The quilting class (background) and music class met in a local home |
The goals of the class were as follows:
- To increase the desire to learn by developing self-efficacy through the completion of a quilted wall hanging.
- To connect women from the community together
- To begin community development by empowering the women to see their own significant role as change agents in their own community
The class objectives were as follows:
- By the end of the week, 100% of the women would have completed at least one of the quilted squares
- By the end of the week, at least 50% of the women would have met someone new from their own community
- By the end of the week, 95% of the women would be able to list one characteristic that made a strong community
- By the end of the week, 95% of the women would be able to list one way they could strengthen their own community
- By the end of the week, 50% of the women would show interest (by voicing it) in the continuation of using quilting as a community development strategy
- By the end of the week, 40% of the women would show interest (by voicing it) in continuing to meet as a group regardless of the completion of the quilt
Assessment of Project
The assessment of the group happened throughout the process of the quilting class within discussions, questions and answers. The questions and answers were as follows:Day 1
1. Who has prior experience with quilting, applique and embroidery techniques.Quilting: 7% of the participants had prior experience quilting
Applique: 65% of the participants had prior experience with applique
Embroidery: 95% of the participants had prior experience with embroidery
2. How many people within the group did you know prior to forming this group?
0 persons: 7%
1 person: 54%
2 persons: 24%
3 or more persons: 15% or the participants knew another participant prior to the forming of this group
Day 2
After a discussion on strong communities, these questions were asked:1. What qualities make a strong community?
Unable to list a quality: 0%
Listed 1 quality: 77%
Listed 2 or more qualities: 23%
2. What is one way you can strengthen your own community?
Listed 1 quality: 77%
Listed 2 or more qualities: 23%
2. What is one way you can strengthen your own community?
Unable to list a way: 0%
Listed 1 way: 77%
List 2 or more ways: 23%
1. How many participants can see them selves continuing this gathering once the quilting class is completed? 77%
2. Who out of the group would use this quilting strategy as a way to strengthen and develop community? 38%
- The host of the house we were situated in seemed to be the strongest common link between the women who attended the group as most of the women identified her as the one person they knew prior to the forming of this group
- The women heard about the group through word of mouth and through the flyers that were sent out
- There was one woman who came who did not know anyone prior to the forming of this group, she was the youngest in the group and she had heard through the distribution of flyers
- One woman, upon hearing of the historical significance of quilting pertaining to social work and community development expressed her feelings of being inspired from the story due to her own career as a social worker
- Throughout the process of the group, the women worked diligently, sharing with each other embroidery techniques, as well as stories of each owns lives
- Almost every woman brought their squares home to work on in the evenings
- There was one woman who did not bring her square home after the first night, she did not return to the group after the first time
- There were 2 women who were only able to participate in the project one day, both those women completed a square and brought it home to do so. They either dropped off the square before the last day or asked a friend to bring in the square
- The commitment level towards completing this project in the span of 4 days was high and exhibited through the hard work the women did during class, the fact that many of the women took their squares home to work on, the fact that there were a few who did more than 2 squares and that they offered to stay late on the last day to help finish up last minute details to ensure completion of the project
- In discussion, the women identified their enjoyment of meeting together and expressed an interest in continuing to meet after the completion of this group
- They are now in the process of talking with the owner of the community center about using that space as a meeting place
Listed 1 way: 77%
List 2 or more ways: 23%
Day 3
After a discussion on the historical significance of quilting in relation to social work and community development, these questions were asked:1. How many participants can see them selves continuing this gathering once the quilting class is completed? 77%
2. Who out of the group would use this quilting strategy as a way to strengthen and develop community? 38%
Day 4
On day four all the quilted squares were collected and:- 100% of the participants finished at least one square
- 95% of the participants used applique as a technique on their square
- 100% of the participants used embroidery on their squares
Conclusions from the Project
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| Completed project |
Upon completion of this project:
- 100% of the women completed at least one of the quilted squares
- 100% of the women met someone new from their own community
- 100% of the women listed one characteristic that made a strong community
- 100% of the women listed one way they could strengthen their own community
- 38% of the women showed interest (by voicing it) in the continuation of using quilting as a community development strategy
- 77% of the women showed interest (by voicing it) in continuing to meet as a group regardless of the completion of the quilt
Notes and Observations
- Out of the group of women there were three artist mentees and two participants who voiced their interest in continuing the use of quilting as a community development strategy- The host of the house we were situated in seemed to be the strongest common link between the women who attended the group as most of the women identified her as the one person they knew prior to the forming of this group
- The women heard about the group through word of mouth and through the flyers that were sent out
- There was one woman who came who did not know anyone prior to the forming of this group, she was the youngest in the group and she had heard through the distribution of flyers
- One woman, upon hearing of the historical significance of quilting pertaining to social work and community development expressed her feelings of being inspired from the story due to her own career as a social worker
- Throughout the process of the group, the women worked diligently, sharing with each other embroidery techniques, as well as stories of each owns lives
- Almost every woman brought their squares home to work on in the evenings
- There was one woman who did not bring her square home after the first night, she did not return to the group after the first time
- There were 2 women who were only able to participate in the project one day, both those women completed a square and brought it home to do so. They either dropped off the square before the last day or asked a friend to bring in the square
- The commitment level towards completing this project in the span of 4 days was high and exhibited through the hard work the women did during class, the fact that many of the women took their squares home to work on, the fact that there were a few who did more than 2 squares and that they offered to stay late on the last day to help finish up last minute details to ensure completion of the project
- In discussion, the women identified their enjoyment of meeting together and expressed an interest in continuing to meet after the completion of this group
- They are now in the process of talking with the owner of the community center about using that space as a meeting place
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