Stitching Together Social Connection

Time to read: approx 3 minutes

The COVID-19 pandemic has, among other things, contributed a great deal of isolation for many members of our Calgary community, but for some people, this isolation was always a way of life, and has only become stronger with the enforcement of widespread social restrictions. Penny Gunderson is a local artist who works in a number of different art mediums including slow stitching, encaustic or hot wax painting, fibre, and fabric printing. Her interest has recently turned towards the problem of isolation and the importance of women being able to connect with other women for social and cultural support. Her mending circle started out as a way to share her own love of slow, intentional stitching work, but very quickly exceeding that initial intention and has evolved into a social support group that all of the women involved so vitally needed.

“At the Women’s Centre, first session really caught me by [surprise] how much this met a need, how hungry women are for contact with other women, and how hungry they were to be able to create, and feel like their creating wasn’t taking away from time with their family,” says Penny. “These things are of value, and they add to women’s lives enormously. So many of us live in our own little bubbles, meet the same people, see the same people, and especially for some of these women who are newcomers, who are older, their family is their bubble. To reach out and have that feeling of community, we don’t have that a lot in our society here in Canada.”

Penny had received the Neighbourhood Grant from the City of Calgary, which she used to buy fabric supplies for the projects that she envisioned doing in the mending circle. Much of those supplies were ruined due to flooding from the hailstorm that hit Calgary’s NE sector mid-June of 2020, but fortunately she was awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant to replace those supplies for her work with 1000 Voices at Calgary’s Genesis Centre.

Penny Gunderson prepare for her mending circle meeting.

1000 Voices is community space within Genesis Centre in Calgary that is home to more than 60 local service providers offering programs and support in areas such as employment training, settlement services for newcomers, as well as specialized programming for seniors and youth. With 1000 Voices, Penny took what she learned from her work with the Women’s Centre and applied it to a new group of women, many of whom were newcomers to Calgary. Over eight sessions with 10 women, she assembled packages with fabric, patches, tassels, buttons, beads, and thread, and distributed them to each of the participants. They then met safely over Zoom to mend, stich, and share.

“With the women from 1000 Voices, I think the thing that took me most by surprise was at the end when they told me they wanted to continue. That I didn’t have to bring supplies, I didn’t have to guide them, they just wanted to meet and keep meeting. It brought tears to my eyes. This is a group of women from completely different backgrounds, but they have the same needs. Women supporting other women gives us strength, gives us resiliency.”

For Penny, the importance of mending circles can be seen in cultures all around the world, which is why the idea so strongly resonates with women from so many different backgrounds. But for her, there’s a deep connection to the history of Canada where early settler women were separated by huge areas of open prairie.

“Ranchers and farmer wives out on the prairie were very strong women, but they still had that need to connect with other women, and to share the good times and the bad times, and share making things together,” says Penny. “For me it all ties back to the slow stitch movement, which isn’t about doing a lot of work, or perfect work, it’s about doing very intentional work.”

So, what’s the next step for Penny’s mending circles? Her Canada Council Grant has given her the ability to build 30 supply bags, tripling the amount of women that she’ll be able to bring together digitally, and hopefully in-person sometime in the new year.

“[I want to expand to] women from Calgary, whatever area. If we’re able to meet in person wonderful, but if we’re not, we’ll meet online,” says Penny. “When I’m doing art, I’ve ever done collaborative art before, and it’s just been so wonderful to get to know these women and learn from each other.”

Many of the beautiful textile pieces created through Penny’s mending circles are on display now at Arts Commons. You can see the exhibition by clicking here to visit our gallery virtually.