What's felt got to do with it? Crafting workshop explores climate change solutions
Small pieces of colourful cloth helped pinpoint how climate change is affecting our world during a Felted Phenology exercise hosted by Creative P.E.I. recently.
The workshop in Charlottetown was billed as an entry point into phenology, the study of biological life cycles and the relation of those cycles to weather and climate. For example, dandelions pop up in people's yards on an annual basis, but the exact time of their appearance each year can vary depending on changes in the weather.
"Phenology tells us that it isn't just four seasons," said Alexis Bulman, the program co-ordinator for Creative P.E.I.'s Climate Artists In Residence program. "Each season is made up of hundreds or thousands of miniature seasons, and I think it allows you to appreciate the world in different ways."
During a recent interview with Mitch Cormier of CBC's Island Morning, she explained how the first of two planned felt workshops led to conversations about a more climate-change-resilient Charlottetown.
"If someone in the workshop were to felt a bat, there's gonna be a Post-it note activity … towards the end of the workshop where we kind of tease apart or extrapolate what that bat might symbolize as a group," she said.
"It could mean that we want to grow the bat population in Charlottetown. OK, well, what are some action items the city might need to take for that to happen?"
One of the larger pieces constructed by one participant at the workshop. (Alexis Bulman/Creative P.E.I.)
Starting a conversation
Bulman said felt collages are an approachable aesthetic for people, given that you don't need to be a "capital A artist" to make something recognizable with shapes cut out of cloth.
"As an artist, I love a workshop where everyone can be gathered around a table with a very tactile material," she said.
Participants worked with provided materials to create their pieces, which then led to conversations about how climate change is affecting specific parts of the natural world around us. (Becca Griffin/Creative P.E.I.)
Mark Sandiford is the executive director of Creative P.E.I.
"When you get into conversation, it's very easy to fall into ruts; you just repeat things that you've heard before," he told Island Morning. "Whereas if you're working with your hands with a blank piece of felt, it kind of frees up your imagination to come up with ideas that you wouldn't have really come up with otherwise."
He said the post-it note exercise let the project collect data that might result in policy recommendations.
Bulman said her hope is that learning about phenology will change the way people look at the natural world.
"You no longer just walk through a cityscape or a landscape. You notice and observe the world around you," she said.
Creative P.E.I. is holding the second of of its felt sessions on June 6 at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre. Registration is being handled by Eventbrite.
