April 1st, 8th, 15th, & 22nd, Wednesdays 6-8PM

Abrons Arts Center, NYC

This class invites participants to grapple with their personal and societal conceptions of safety by slowing down with the practice of hand embroidery. Together we will question how individual traumas, and social privilege or marginalization play a role in how we understand our safety. Rooted in the reality that our lives include violence –from the state and from individuals – we will reach for accessible pathways towards safety. During our time together we will explore lessons from writers, poets, and activists, alongside guided discussion, and basic hand embroidery tutorials. Leaning into the meditative and intergenerational quality of sewing circles, participants will have the embodied experience of how craft can heal and connect us.

Participants will create individual embroidered pieces that represent their understanding of safety, either how it currently stands, or what they want to reach for. In our final class the group will be asked to combine these pieces into one. Creating a web of safety that we can all exist within. How these works combine will be limited only by our imaginations and the time available.

*All materials provided for use in class