A group exhibition that shares diverse histories through woven tapestry.
June 10-June 16, 2022
This exhibition shares woven tapestries and gathers a collection of diverse history from residents of Minnesota.
The weavings are made from community creators that participated in the Weave A Memory Workshop. They gathered virtually in March 2022 and learned to interpret a memory using a variety of weaving techniques and found materials. The memories reflect on family members, homelands, and seasons that were held dearly to the artists.
Acknowledgements: This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Blooming with memories.
When and where the flowers bloom is where my most captured memories are. The Como Zoo park entrances with landscaped plants, the wildflowers blooming along Phalen Lake, the Macy's flower show back in the day, and our neighbor's lilac tree that extends into our back yard. The most memorable part was not always the full bloom but the fun time spent photographing in front of them with family and friends.
This weaving describes the maker’s life immigrating to the United States from Aguascalientes, Mexico. Reminiscing on the landscapes from home: balconies, flowers, and colonial homes. It describes terrain she encountered during the journey to the United States with her late husband. The white flurry of material cascading down depicts life in Minnesota. Continuous snow. The top portion of the weaving returns to bright colors, because her goal is to retire back home to revisit the balconies and flowers.
As a Hmong wife, there was a lot of social and cultural pressure to have a son after my oldest daughter. It is believed that children are sent from the sky (portrayed here as the clouds). Relatives even offered herbal medicine to help with creating a son. However, the sky blessed me with another healthy girl. At age 3, my toddler expressed wanting a Superman haircut, and sharing their dislikes for dresses and girl-assigned toys. The pure joy on their face after seeing their haircut in the mirror filled my heart so deep because I knew in that moment that they were finally seeing a reflection of the person they yearned to be. –
– By committing to create a home where who they are is encouraged, my husband and I prioritized for our child to be able to freely explore and process their gender identity with us. Despite the whispers of relatives who didn’t approve of our parenting and our child’s non-binary identity, we know we are doing the right thing because our child never questions their family’s support. I am grateful every day that they chose us as their parents from their home in the clouds.
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