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Memory Bear Making Workshop @ Moore
Are you a current Moore Student, Staff, or Faculty? Join me for an on campus Memory Bear Making Workshop in October (Date & Time TBA) and make your own special bear! Optional opportunity to include your bear in this installation for the duration of its running time at Moore.
This Fall, I will be hosting a Memory Bear Making Workshop for the Moore community (students, staff, & faculty) where participants will learn how to hand sew a simple special teddy bear using clothes, garments, or scraps that hold sentimental value to them. My goal for this workshop is to create a welcoming and inclusive space where individuals of all ages can come together to share their stories and memories through this hands-on activity. By repurposing cherished clothing items into a cuddly handmade teddy bear, I hope to help participants recognize, preserve, and honor the memories associated with them. The workshop will be led by myself and designed for any level of skill. Guests will be provided with a pattern, basic sewing supplies (needles, thread, scissors, etc.), step-by-step instructions, and individual attention throughout the workshop. I will have my sewing machine on-site for any needs that arise requiring a quick fix. While participants would ideally bring fabric that is personally meaningful to them, I will also provide free scrap fabrics for use. While not required, I would like to offer participants the option to have the bears they created included in the related installation “Memory Bears: Philadelphia Has Mo(o)re” for the remainder of its running time.
About the Installation:
Memory Bears: Philadelphia Has Mo(o)re
Site-specific installation currently on view at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA.
Teddy Bears and stuffed decorative objects made by my memaw and great aunt line the shelves of my mom’s hutches, and throughout my childhood stuffed animals were my source of inspiration and play. Into adulthood, my history and connection with soft objects has become a way for me to express my concerns and ideas through soft sculpture, plush making, and site-specific installation. By using materials associated with comfort and innocence to explore presented concepts, I aim to simultaneously create a sense of familiarity and of introspection.
Originally from Central Pennsylvania, my journey to Philadelphia was a long one, beginning in 2009 with a catalog delivered to my high school from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Over the next 10 years, I felt a pull toward Philly, and when the timing was right, I moved to Philadelphia to attend PAFA’s Graduate Program (Class of 2020). I began working at Moore as the Program Coordinator of Continuing Education in May of 2023, largely focusing my efforts on the Young Artists Workshop. Witnessing the young artists in this program learn and grow has reminded me of my own journey to where I am today – a first generation college graduate achieving goals I never would have thought were possible as a junior in high school 14 years ago.
Creating site-specific installations often provides me with the time to explore the history of the spaces I spend time in and are also an opportunity for introspection to identify where my own path crosses with another. Connecting marketing with memory, and as someone who regularly uses puns in my own work to introduce a specific idea in a playful way, I have enjoyed Moore’s playful yet specific puns in advertising – placing “Moore” in place of “More” in many instances. In this installation, I utilize the 1970s-1990s Moore Bumper Sticker “Philadelphia has Moore” in company with personal textiles referencing my own journey while acknowledging the rich history of Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia – providing resources, education, and opportunities for women for over 170 years, and now continues its mission of inclusivity by opening the campus to trans women, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and queer individuals. This work is interactive, open to guests touching and holding the bear(s) on display, honoring the function of a memory bear; to be held and serve as a physical catalyst for thought and remembrance.
Are you a current Moore Student, Staff, or Faculty? Join me for an on campus Memory Bear Making Workshop in October (Date & Time TBA) and make your own special bear! Optional opportunity to include your bear in this installation for the duration of its running time at Moore.
This Fall, I will be hosting a Memory Bear Making Workshop for the Moore community (students, staff, & faculty) where participants will learn how to hand sew a simple special teddy bear using clothes, garments, or scraps that hold sentimental value to them. My goal for this workshop is to create a welcoming and inclusive space where individuals of all ages can come together to share their stories and memories through this hands-on activity. By repurposing cherished clothing items into a cuddly handmade teddy bear, I hope to help participants recognize, preserve, and honor the memories associated with them. The workshop will be led by myself and designed for any level of skill. Guests will be provided with a pattern, basic sewing supplies (needles, thread, scissors, etc.), step-by-step instructions, and individual attention throughout the workshop. I will have my sewing machine on-site for any needs that arise requiring a quick fix. While participants would ideally bring fabric that is personally meaningful to them, I will also provide free scrap fabrics for use. While not required, I would like to offer participants the option to have the bears they created included in the related installation “Memory Bears: Philadelphia Has Mo(o)re” for the remainder of its running time.
About the Installation:
Memory Bears: Philadelphia Has Mo(o)re
Site-specific installation currently on view at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA.
Teddy Bears and stuffed decorative objects made by my memaw and great aunt line the shelves of my mom’s hutches, and throughout my childhood stuffed animals were my source of inspiration and play. Into adulthood, my history and connection with soft objects has become a way for me to express my concerns and ideas through soft sculpture, plush making, and site-specific installation. By using materials associated with comfort and innocence to explore presented concepts, I aim to simultaneously create a sense of familiarity and of introspection.
Originally from Central Pennsylvania, my journey to Philadelphia was a long one, beginning in 2009 with a catalog delivered to my high school from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Over the next 10 years, I felt a pull toward Philly, and when the timing was right, I moved to Philadelphia to attend PAFA’s Graduate Program (Class of 2020). I began working at Moore as the Program Coordinator of Continuing Education in May of 2023, largely focusing my efforts on the Young Artists Workshop. Witnessing the young artists in this program learn and grow has reminded me of my own journey to where I am today – a first generation college graduate achieving goals I never would have thought were possible as a junior in high school 14 years ago.
Creating site-specific installations often provides me with the time to explore the history of the spaces I spend time in and are also an opportunity for introspection to identify where my own path crosses with another. Connecting marketing with memory, and as someone who regularly uses puns in my own work to introduce a specific idea in a playful way, I have enjoyed Moore’s playful yet specific puns in advertising – placing “Moore” in place of “More” in many instances. In this installation, I utilize the 1970s-1990s Moore Bumper Sticker “Philadelphia has Moore” in company with personal textiles referencing my own journey while acknowledging the rich history of Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia – providing resources, education, and opportunities for women for over 170 years, and now continues its mission of inclusivity by opening the campus to trans women, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and queer individuals. This work is interactive, open to guests touching and holding the bear(s) on display, honoring the function of a memory bear; to be held and serve as a physical catalyst for thought and remembrance.
