The Final Four Days

That’s right! It is four days until Friday, and Friday is the last day to put vines in the mail!! Remember, if you haven’t mailed your vines yet, they must be in the mail by Friday, April 10!! Thank you to everyone who has submitted so far, and keep the submissions coming! Remember to check on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter under #100womenproject to keep up with all the women participating! I am also posting behind the scenes pictures to that tag!

This past week, several women from the University of Richmond and the Richmond area all got to spend time together either learning to crochet, or teaching others to crochet. It was tons of fun and thank you to all the ladies who were there for such a great time!

The rest of my time recently has been spent sorting through all of the mail that I have been receiving! Over the past week, I have averaged two tubs of mail everyday and when my lovely (and patient) friend Katherine and I sat down to sort through it all, there were 81 unopened packages!

Two days worth of mail

81 unopened packages

It has been quite an adventure sorting through all of the mail! If you think your package should have arrived but have not yet received a confirmation e-mail from me, don’t fret! It takes quite some time to open and catalog all of the mail, and we might not have gotten to your package just yet!

We’ve been working hard, and made a pretty serious dent in the 81 unopened packages! Every package that is received goes into the spreadsheet and the number of vines is recorded. Soon, I will be photographing each vine individually and recording the specifics of each one made including the length, yarn type and creator! I want to make sure that each vine can still be matched up to the creator even after they are all installed together!

I owe a huge thank you specifically to this goofball for helping me sort through the never ended pile of vines and showing up with emergency chips and guac when its going to be a late night in the studio! I am so thankful that for all of the incredible women that have decided to join me on this crazy journey! I have loved reading all of your comments and stories through the participation form and the index cards you all send me. I feel like I get to see just a glimpse of the wonderful personalities of the diverse group of women in this project. Thank you to all of you ladies! Without you, this project would not be possible!

Stay tuned later this week for more behind the scenes pictures and then some concept sketches of the final install!!

❤ Amy

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The Final Countdown

Today is April 1, which means that plenty of people are pulling pranks, but I am counting down the days until the exhibition opens! In just 30 short days, the install will be up and on display! TOMORROW is the day for the big Learn-to-Crochet event! Click here for details!

Don’t forget to get your vines in the mail by April 10!! That day is fast approaching! 

Also – if you are a participant in the project, I want to hear from you! Click here for your voice to be heard! I want to know what you have liked/disliked so far and any suggestions for improvement over the next 30 days!

During this whole project, I have been so excited to see such a diverse array of vines every time I open a package! I love seeing what you all have created, and reading your index cards and learning just a little bit about the amazing person that created the vines I’m holding. A quote that has become my motto for this school year and this project is “In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” – Maya Angelou

My wonderful apartment mates! Sometimes I forget how short I am…

This quote was used at the beginning of the year to describe my beautifully diverse apartment – all four of us are from different countries, have four different majors, and the list goes on. Through this project, that quote has come to mean so much more as I am reminded of that beautiful diversity every day when I open my mail, or read an index card. As I am striving to capture just a glimpse of all of the beauty and strength of the diverse group of women from around the world in this one project, I keep coming back to that quote and I truly think it embodies the goal of this piece.

Crochet Meet Up!!

Calling all Richmonders!! Don’t know how to crochet but you still want to participate? Come to the University of Richmond at the Gateway Village Common Room on Tuesday April 2, 2015 from 4-8pm and learn how! Click here for the full event details!

Here is a map of how to find the common room from off campus!

Click to enlarge

Updates Galore!!

Hello All!!

It has been a wonderful week in the land of crocheted wisteria vines! I have become great friends with the awesome people at the post office – I’ve been getting so much mail they have given me my own bin!

My very own bin in the post office!

Seriously, it has been fantastically overwhelming. I had 14 packages today! That’s the most in one day so far!

If you haven’t seen, there is now a KNITTING PATTERN on the website thanks to the knitting magic of Julzy!

Also, check out all the awesome places around the web the 100 Women Project has been featured! Let me know if I missed anywhere!

Stitch and Unwind

Red Heart Yarn

Hakelmonster

Crochet Concupiscence

Zen Crochet

If you are just now starting your vine and are wondering what colors to use, I would LOVE some more light/pastel colors because I am lacking in that department a little bit. Also, as a reminder – you do not have to follow the pattern exactly! Feel free to spice it up! Just make sure it resembles wisteria! Here are some pictures of wisteria for inspiration!

Even the seed pods of wisteria are beautiful!

Happy hooking!

❤ Amy

Exhibition Date and Location!!

It’s official!! The 100 Women Project will be opening on May 1, 2015 at Lovebomb in downtown Richmond, VA as a part of my senior thesis exhibition! The show will run from May 1 – May 9, 2015.

This has been an incredibly exciting week for the project! If you missed it, the 100 Women Project was feature on StitchandUnwind.com this week so be sure to check it out!

My first international package!

Today I received my first international vine all the way from Australia! I am expecting vines from Germany, London, Scotland, Canada, Argentina and the Philippines and I’m so excited!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has participated so far! I am so thankful for all of the kind people I have met from all around the world through this project! You are all truly amazing! Keep sharing the project with your friends and posting to the hashtag!

❤ Amy

Behind the Scenes: What I’m Currently Doing with the Vines

Hello hello!!

Today, I’m going to be giving all of you a little peak into my studio at what I am doing with the vines as I am receiving them. The past week has been filled with lots of packages of beautiful vines! Also, I befriended the people who work at the post office because they will be seeing a lot of me for the next few weeks! Here is just a glimpse of what how I am cataloging the vines!

When each vine is received, I make a little tag for it with the name of the creator. If that person submitted more than one, the vines are numbered.

Whenever I get a new package, I create one of those little tags for it and input the information from the index card into a spreadsheet that details what each vine looks like, who made it and what city/state/country it is from. I am also going to be photographing each vine individually so that I can pair a picture of each vine with the person who made it, but until then they all have the names attached!

This is the tallest vine I have received so far! For reference, I am 5’2″. Over the next few weeks, I will be measuring each vine and recording that information in a spiffy little spreadsheet.

It has been pretty exciting to see the wide variety in lengths, colors, yarn weight and textures that each person has used to create a vine! I love opening each package and seeing a new, unique vine!

The longest vine and the shortest vine side by side!

There has been a ton of variety in the vines!

All of the vines are currently hanging from my ceiling while I work through how I want to display them in the exhibition.

This is the equivalent of “sketching” as I am working through how to display the vines.

My lovely ladder because I lack the height to move the vines around without it

Another view of the vines hanging out in my studio!

The index cards are currently being stored in a box until I find the right book to use to display them. This has been an exciting week! I can’t wait to see all of the new vines that will come in!

Crochet Catch Up! Updates as of March 11!

Hello Fellow Crocheters!

Whether you’ve been following this project since day one, or just heard about it last week, I’m glad you’re here! Here are some updates on the project so far! If you have mailed me a vine in the past week, I am currently on spring break until Saturday, March 14 and I will be sending out all of my confirmation e-mails on March 16, so keep an eye out for those if your vine is in the mail!

More vines!

Over the past few weeks, I have been able to teach several friends and family how to crochet – which has been great! If you live in Richmond, keep your eyes open in the next few days because I will be announcing the date of a meet up where people in the city can learn to crochet! Look for announcement in the next week or so about that!

Katherine learning to crochet

Katherine finished two vines!

Updates by the numbers:

This website has been viewed in over 36 different countries.
People from 6 different countries have committed to participating in the project.
The most number of vines crocheted by one person so far is 10.
This site has been live for 13 days and there have been over 5,200 hits.
At least 30 people have participated so far.

Those are all the updates so far! How about all of you? How are your vines going?

Updates as of March 4, 2015

I had to take a selfie when I received the first vine in the mail!

First off, I have to say THANK YOU for the wonderful response that I have received for this project! I have loved hearing from all of you and I received the very first vine in the mail this week and I have been receiving pictures from other women who have also completed a vine! Keep working and sharing! If you post to social media, make sure to use the hashtag #100womenproject so we can all follow along!

Secondly, based on all of your wonderful feedback I have made some adjustments to this website! Thanks for sticking with me! This is a learning process and I am doing my best to adapt!

The updates I have made have been adding this form for all of you so that you can submit your e-mail and I will send you a confirmation when I receive your vine in the mail! If you have already contacted me via e-mail, then don’t worry about filling out that form! If you have not, then please fill it out so I know to expect a vine from you!

I have also updated the crochet pattern to be more specific and hopefully eliminate any confusion!

Additionally, I have beefed up the FAQ page and as I continue to receive questions, I will keep adding to it!

Thanks so much to everyone who has participated so far and keep on sharing it with your friends! I can’t wait to see all of the beautiful vines that you all will create!

❤ Amy

Why Only Women?

When creating this project, I was debating whether or not I wanted to limit my participants and ultimately decided that I would ask exclusively women to participate in this installation. During the past three and a half years, I have been learning about the contemporary art world I will soon be entering and one thing has become clear – it, like so many others, is a male dominated field. One thing that has resonated with me during my education was the Western romanticized ideal of a poor, starving, male painter who is secretly a genius and just needs to be discovered. For many years, this was the preconceived notion of what it meant to be an artist. This is the idea that I intend to challenge through this project. The main reason for that is because I have met so many incredibly intelligent and talented women during my time as a student, not just in the art department. The poor, unrecognized and hungry genius is a flawed representation of an artist and the women that have taught and influenced me are anything but weak.

In my recent work, I have been exploring the use of conventional domestic materials to create art that is intended to be displayed in a museum. These materials include felt, needle and thread, tea and napkins, and, of course, yarn. That is why I have chosen yarn for this project. Yarn is a classically domestic item intended for practicality with a specific function. It also carries the connotation of the home and women caring for others. Through this project, I am redefining that view to become a representation of the strength, diversity and individuality of women. Each piece that is crocheted will be unique to the creator. When they are all displayed together, it will be overwhelming, colorful and powerful. That, in my mind, is a much better representation of contemporary women -artists and non-artists.This piece will highlight the diversity of the female community and repurpose something that is thought of as belonging only in the home.
I hope you will join me in this project!