It took about 2 hours to get everything unloaded and set up. Volunteers started arriving at 4 and we were completely set up and ready for anything by 5. All went smoothly and according to plan. Except for my sons blasted ear infection which continued to haunt me all evening. sigh.
At first it was a slow trickle of people but by 7 o'clock the joint was hopping. I can't even began to speculate how many people we talked to throughout the evening. We had people who just wanted to watch, people who sat and wove for 45 minutes, and people who just wanted to talk for a while. It was all about connecting to the Milwaukee Community and I definitely feel that we achieved that. I'm not going to lie, I hope that we get some new students out of this, but more important to me was sharing the art form and informing people of the great resource that they have within their city.
As far as the volunteers go, I couldn't have asked for a better group of people. Outgoing, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. If somebody wasn't interested in weaving before talking to one of our volunteers, they couldn't help but be afterwards. The ABK ladies were jumping from one loom to the other all evening helping folks weave, answering questions, and just having a great time. Their flexibility and openness were a sample of what ABK is all about.
It was especially delightful that Faythe Levine, who's movie Handmade Nation was being screened at the Museum, decided to come over and throw a few shots. With her is our volunteer Allison.
Here is Carolyn demonstrating the finer points of an inkle loom and behind her you can see Cathy walking someone through a houndstooth pattern.
C'mon! How cool was it to see all these younger guys so interested in weaving. I can't believe how many men made projects. Milwaukee men can be warped too!!!!
Here is our lovely volunteer JoAnn in her element. The kids came out to play and were very enthusiastic. Some of them made more then one project. I think the studio will be revisiting starting a kid's class this winter. In the mean time, kids are welcome to sign up for the evening adult classes. So says our instructor Susan Buss.
These ladies are trying out a block pattern and it looks like they are doing well. Susan is behind them talking to someone about taking classes.
Catherine is explaining some finer points of weaving. These ladies went on to weave a piece of their own before the evening ended.
Judy demonstrated how to weave towels. The colors were beautiful and received many compliments.
