2022

Come and weave with us! As part of ArtNight, Armory artists in residence Michelle Glass and Myisha Arellano will present Woven Memories of Labor, a collaborative tapestry project made from fabric remnants. You are invited to bring a special piece of fabric that represents either your personal labor or honors a loved one's labor — work clothes, aprons, rags, etc. Write your reflections on the fabric, then add it to the weaving. All fabric remnants will be woven together to pay tribute and celebrate the lives, labor, and memories of friends, families, and community workers.

This projects was produced by the artists in partnership with NAACP Pasadena and The Pasadena Community Job Center as part of the Los Angeles County activation of Artists At Work – a national initiative from @TheOfficeArts that brings together artists with cultural and community-based organizations to address deeply rooted economic and social issues laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic. Styled after the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, the program pays artists to keep making art; gives support to cultural organizations and arts workers in that community to host and work with those artists; and connects both artists and cultural organizations to local social impact initiatives in areas such as youth mental health, suicide prevention, food justice, prison reform, at-risk youth, sustainability, and environmental justice. Participating artists receive a salary, calculated using the MIT Living Wage Calculator for their respective region, for a period of one year, as well as full healthcare benefits.

Image: Artist in residence Michelle Glass leads a natural color dye workshop at the Pasadena Community Job Center to prepare some of the fabrics and the actual loom for the weaving pro