photo and stitching by Shannon Downey of Badass Cross Stitch.
One of my favorite people, the awesome
Shannon Downey of
BadAss Cross Stitch, has created an amazing opportunity for you to participate in some craftivism to help End Gun Violence. And she's done it in that super-savvy, clever way that she is just so good at -- connecting craft and cause.
As Shannon explains
on her site:
"I was simply stitching elaborate guns as a way to process my own feelings around the prevalence of gun violence both in our country and especially in the city I love, Chicago.
I’ve decided to continue on with this series and eventually sell them to raise money for an amazing program called Project FIRE.
Project FIRE (Fearless Initiative for Recovery and Empowerment) is an artist development employment program that offers healing through glass blowing to youth injured by gun violence in Chicago. Project FIRE combines glass arts education, mentoring and trauma psycho-education in order to support trauma recovery and create employment opportunities for young people who have been shot or witnessed the homicide of a loved one."
Since Shannon expanded this idea and put out a call for submissions, the project has really taken off:
The craftivism pieces are rolling in from ALL over the world and it’s SO exciting. Because it’s catching on, I’m going to extend the deadline to October 30th!
Project FIRE is going to be wrapping up their session around then and we are going to host a collaborative gallery show of all of your amazing fiber art AND the beautiful glass art that the young people involved in the program are creating. It’s going to be amazing.
Interested? Go to
BadAss Cross Stitch and download the cross stitch pattern. Not a stitcher? You can also participate in any fiber art medium. It's going to be a really big shoooow and raise a lot of money for a great cause!
Working on my piece for the show has really helped me process some of the frustration and horror of all the shootings this summer, including in my home town of Dallas. So get to stitchin' and create something that only you can--no two interpretations are ever alike. Plus, did I mention it's really great therapy? Bonus.
