Pride Yarnbombing and Art Installation

by Regina Heater, Office Manager

Have you seen the outside of our church? In early June, we began putting together a special collaborative installation for Pride month, featuring yarnbombing and custom art painted in the windows.

The project was inspired by a Facebook group coordinating yarnbombings throughout Morris County for Pride month. Yarnbombing is a form of street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk. When I read about the effort, I knew Morristown UMC was the perfect candidate for a yarnbombing in Morristown. After all, our ‘front yard’ is directly on the Morristown Green, which makes it a perfect spot to capture people’s attention with something super-creative. When Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, we decided to show our support for Ukraine by painting sunflowers in the front window in time for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in town. That was such a success, I knew we could take it to another level for Pride. I just needed some co-conspirators – and luckily, I had plenty of them!

After consulting with members of the Facebook group and other veteran yarnbombers, I met with MUMC’s Yarners group to strategize what the display could look like. The Yarners group meets twice a month at the church, creating prayer shawls and scarves to share with the community, while also working on their own projects. Most had never participated in a Yarnbombing before, but after a little research, they were ready to make a plan. I confess, when we started out, I thought maybe we would only create items to go around the banner posts at the front of the church to complement a new Pride banner that would invite people to connect with the church. As we talked, we realized we could also utilize the front windows of the church, and a plan came together. Over the next eight weeks, the team set to knitting and crocheting long, narrow scarf-like pieces to hang in the windows in addition to the pieces for around the banner. These pieces would be used for appliques of hearts, butterflies and rainbows. 95% of what was made utilized “stash” yarn that the Yarners and friends had collected, instead of buying new materials.

While the Yarners worked, I met with Peach & Plum Painting Company to plan a new paint scheme for the windows to complement the yarn art. Peach & Plum had painted the sunflowers in the windows in March. I knew that Crista (Cattano) and TJ (Kozell) would create art that would complement the yarn art perfectly. They are a great team to collaborate with! I also began working with my colleague, Property Manager Dave White, to plan how the pieces would be hung in the window and how best to attach and support the pieces around the banner.

By late May, all of the yarn art had been completed and it was time to assemble everything. In addition to the art created by the yarners, the church had been gifted a Pride Progress flag from a yarn store in North Carolina via a friend of mine and veteran yarnbomber, Margie V. The team decided to hang it in the top center window of the church, and Peach & Plum would incorporate it into their final design. The appliques were affixed to the “scarves” for the window which were then hung. Several people worked on the outdoor portion after the banner was setup, with special reinforcement to install a 14ft rainbow scarf above it. A group of volunteers from Ridge High School helped hang the Progress Pride flag, with an extra assist from MUMC’s Appalachia Service Project team. Finally, Peach & Plum came in to complete the installation with their paint featuring Keith Haring-inspired figurines, hearts with various Pride flags painted in them, a rainbow of “dripping” paint, butterflies and sunflowers in solidarity with Ukraine.

It’s been the most wonderful project to work on.  It was my dream that we’d create something truly collaborative that people take notice of as they walk down the street and drive by. From the start, everyone involved was enthusiastic and excited to create this installation for the community. It’s good to be a part of a community that wants to welcome, create and collaborate. When you finish a project like this and you’re thinking “what can we do next?”, you know you’ve been a part of something remarkable.

Many thanks to:

Nancy
Phyllis
Carol
Jeanne
Amy
CJ
Jen
Tara
Holly
Dave White
Ridge High School “Ridge Gives Back” Team
MUMC ASP Team
Crista Coutts and TJ Kozell of Peach & Plum Painting

The Yarners group meets twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 6:30pm. All knitters and crocheters are welcome to join in the fun! To connect with the group, fill out the contact form below and we’ll reach out!

You are warmly invited to join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30am, in-person or via our livestream on our website.

 

Contact Us