Crochet Jam, San Francisco Day School, San Francisco, California
Ramekon O'Arwisters, SFDS artist-in-residence, visited the Day School in January to lead a community crochet jam. With his crochet jam, Ramekon invites individuals to participate in creating crocheted tapestries from re-purposed scraps of fabric. In order for the School to facilitate this project, we asked families, students, and teachers to contribute a meaningful piece of used clothing or sheet. The art department collected all of the material and created strips and balls of fabric to serve as the source for the tapestry. Ramekon partnered with our art department to co-teach students how to crochet. Over 400 students, teachers, and staff participated.
Ultimately, the students came together during an assembly for our first Crochet Jam. Buddies worked in groups and crocheted their pieces together, resulting in a visually dynamic reflection of our community. In Ramekon's words, "Creativity makes us kin...the goal is to quickly and easily engage participants in a relaxed and creative state by transforming cloth strips into large tapestries using folk-art tradition of rag-rug making. Crochet Jam...is a bridge that unites people and cultures." We couldn't have said it better. Thank you to Ramekon and our community for participating in this project.