In a warm, fuzzy way, humans from all over the world are celebrating inclusion and diversity by contributing to a work of art: a giant afghan, crocheted and built one square at a time.
Leader
Kathleen King
Location
4275 Cass St San Diego , CA 92109
This project celebrates the virtues of Diversity and Inclusion in Community.
The title of the installation is "The Blanket Statement" and of course, as you will see, it is more than merely a cheeky play on words. It is a giant crowd-sourced Granny square afghan representing a human demonstration of people from all walks of life, ethnicities, backgrounds, and identities, standing together, UNIFIED, in support of a diverse communtiy.
All the parts have been gathered--currently 200+ granny squares.
We have squares from 29 states, plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, and 8 countries. We thrill at the thought of adding more!
We have an initial venue--the branch libraries of San Diego County CA . With your generosity, assembling the various elements into a cohesive public display will be possible. Please consider supporting this program with a gift. This is a project about small parts uniting to send a powerful message. Every little bit helps! Please add yours!
It began with a curiosity I had with the ubiquitousness of a homespun kitsch icon of American middle-class culture: the black-bordered granny square afghan blanket. You probably have one lurking on a sofa in your extended family right now! Shortly after I had created a webpage to have fun with that idea, a man slaughtered people in a church, the administration turned, and a palpable surge in racist rhetoric began to pervade common discourse, becoming acceptable, even normalized. Then there were torches in the street marching toward a vulnerable community, carried by a mob with violent intent. As a human being I had to speak to the insanity. As an Artist I must speak, with my art, to this public obscenity and perversion of our right to free speech and free assembly. But how? Artistic concepts don't come simply when called upon. So I went for a bike ride.
While riding happily on a trail with a pleasant breeze in my face it occurred to me: what if I asked people all over the country to send me a hand-crocheted granny square? There would be simple rules: 1. The square had to measure 6" x 6"; 2. The square could be any color in the center but the border had to be a color of human skin, from palest beige to dark chocolate, or black, or white. The squares would be sown together and represent a demonstration of a human crowd--a Community of People of all ethnic origins standing together, accepting, welcoming, choosing diversity, inclusion and love, over racism, fear, division, and hate.
I put notices on social media sites frequented by knitters and crocheters, and in the squares came--from all over the world! And they weren't just representing different ethnic groups, states, and nations. They were made by all genders as well. The LGBTQ community celebrated their identity in granny squares too! There are about 200 squares now.
The San Diego Public Library system is offering spaces in its branches around the county to exhibit the afghan itself along with the letters sent by participants. The exhibit is designed to travel and grow with each showing. The first exhibition date will be confirmed in February for early 2020 and a new call for squares to be added will go out to the public at that time. From the library system, it is my fondest wish that other venues around the country will welcome a showing.
For more information on the scope of the project, please see the website: https://crochetedmonolith.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/i-want-you-to-crochet-a-granny-square-to-celebrate-the-human-race/
THANK YOU!
The message is complex, but really, oh, so simple: there are more of us out there who know that we share a common humanity and prefer an inclusive, diverse community than those who would seek to separate us by superficial differences. We assert with this work: Simply being HUMAN is beautiful, extraordinary, rare in the universe, and ENOUGH to be WORTHY of compassion and RESPECT. We invite all humans to join us in this TRUTH.
