What brings a tourist from Italy, a lifelong resident of Harlem and a graduate student from a local university together? Crochet hooks, knitting needles, an assortment of green acrylic yarn and time and space for community craftivism. This case study focuses on crossing boundaries through participatory textile making, making time and space for relationship building in the changing neighbourhood of Harlem and practicing institutional stewardship as a ‘good neighbour’. The Walls-Ortiz Gallery and Center – the arts and research space of City Seminary of New York, an intercultural urban theological learning community – affords an opportunity to explore what happens when lives and stories are stitched together through participatory textile practices. Through the lenses of the EcCoWell learning neighbourhood approach and craftivism, this documentation and reflection of data from collaborative yarn bombing and community quilt-making projects over the past two years provide insights on lessons, challenges and opportunities of these community-oriented practices.
“I Am More Productive in the Library Because It’s Quiet”: Commuter Students in the College Library