ArtPrize - Sep. 23 - Oct. 8, 2009 - Grand Rapids, MI
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Artist information:
Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
Kentwood, Michigan

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Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood

Artist bio

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood is the the producer of the CraftSanity podcast, an interview show about art, craft and creativity. She blogs and publishes craft tutorials at CraftSanity.com. She writes an art and craft column for the The Grand Rapids Press, where she spent more than a decade as a staff reporter.

After scaling back at The Press, Jennifer expanded the CraftSanity brand to include a line of wooden peg weaving looms that she makes and sells online and at local art markets. She writes about art and craft for a variety of magazines and does regular craft segments WZZM 13's "Take Five & Company" morning show. She also teaches art and craft workshops for children and adults.  

She loves public displays of creativity, blurring the lines between art and craft, stitching, talking to strangers, wearing aprons in public, athletic competition, documenting everyday life and attempting the impossible. She lives in West Michigan with her husband and two daughters.
About the work
Title: Power Ties In Bloom

Art form: 2-D

Medium: Fiber Art

Year created: 2010

Description of work: What would you do if someone handed you a box of neckties from some of West Michigan’s most influential power brokers? Would you frame them? Try to sell them on eBay? Wear them yourself? Cut them into bits?

Me? Well, I decided to deconstruct the power ties - literally - and cut them into bits. Armed with a seam ripper and a hot iron, I took the ties apart, reinforced them with fusible interfacing, cut them into 3-inch squares, and recruited volunteers to help me baste the fabric around paper hexagons and then stitch the hexagons together to form feminine, seven-piece flowers with dress fabric at the center of each bloom.

This hand-stitched quilt will consist of roughly 120 hexagon blooms using an English paper piecing technique dating back to the 1930s. The quilt is being hand-stitched by people from all walks of life to symbolize that we all must work together to end domestic violence. Proceeds from the sale of this quilt will go to Safe Haven Ministries.

Technical details
Linear wall space needed: 24 ft.
Total square feet needed: 24 sq. ft.
Additional considerations
Audio/video needed: No
Electrical needed: No
Lighting needed: Yes
Internet access needed: No
Ground floor access needed: No
Indoor space needed: Yes
Outdoor space needed: No
YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood is showing at:
YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids
475 Lake Michigan Drive NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Venue location

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