Felting Connection to Ourselves, Peoples, and Place
Contributed by Andrew Swainson, Art Representative
During the last couple of years, I have discovered the slow joy that fibre arts offers to my art students. While fibre arts such as clothing design and sewing (with or without machines) require an immense amount of preparation, I have found that my students are able to jump into needle felting and hit the ground running. The learning curve for needle felting is slight, and the possibilities are endless. From students felting directly onto their jackets and backpacks, to incorporating feltwork in high and low relief, to fully 3D soft sculptures, my students exceeded my expectations once they figured out how to properly stab that wool.
There is magic in soft things. Soft things call all of us back to a time and space where we had time for softness and slowness. I was shocked at how intensely invested my high schoolers became once they got a feel for the wool, and how much catharsis they felt while stabbing their sculptures together. I wish I could share with you the joy on the faces of my students as they laughed and giggled their way through the projects I’m sharing with you.
I’ve attached two humble project proposals that I have undertaken with my own students, as well as young artists from neighbouring schools.
Just a couple of notes about both: these proposals were designed intentionally in partial fulfillment of my Master’s degree at the University of Victoria. They are primarily focused on Stephanie Springgay’s concept of feltness, which is a radical pedagogy that seeks to disrupt traditionally rigid structures within classrooms and allow for greater freedom through exploration, relationality, community building, and genuine care. I have found this concept to be a naturally fitting label for my own praxis, which is why it resonates with me so. If you are interested, Springgay’s book Feltness: Research-Creation, Socially Engaged Art, and Affective Pedagogies is a fantastic, albeit dense, read. One of my proposals focuses on cross-grade collaboration using felting for older students to build relationality and community, and the second focuses on using felting to explore personal identities and how the different spaces our students inhabit can or may alter them. If the scholarly stuff is too boring, please sweep it aside and disregard it.
As we move into this new school year, I can already feel a strange tension in the air. Remember the soft things, my artsy friends. If we can all build community together, the kids (and us) will be alright. I hold fast to the idea that if one of us visual arts teachers finds success, we will all find success if we share with those around us. If you ever need anything, I’m here to help! I’ve got a couple of huge file folders that have been shared with me over the years, filled with all sorts of lesson plans, project ideas, templates, etc. Don’t hesitate to reach out at andrew.swainson@fineartsata.ca. I would love to make more connections with all of you from across the province.
Breathe deeply, make art.
Andrew
My project proposals can be found in a shared Google Drive folder here:
The files are in a Google format, but anybody can download a copy of the files and convert them to a useful format. These project ideas are available to any art teacher in Alberta for use in their classrooms; please just include my name (for other uses, please email me).
