project overview

Sewcial Impact Project is a st. Louis based social enterprise working with ten young people (over the course of four weekends), ages 12-20 to reflect on their current experiences getting around the city, imagine radical alternatives, and produce a quilt depicting a scene from the world they have imagined. Final quilts will be displayed at a public exhibit, where they will be used as provocation to encourage conversation among attendees about what they want (and don’t want) from the future of mobility.

methodology

The project will consist of four main sessions:
Session 1: Imagining alternatives. 
As participants arrive, they will be asked to complete a reflection survey about sewing skills they already have, why they want to learn to sew, and how mobility could improve on the north side. Throughout the first session, participants will be led on a journey to re-imagine how we think about mobility.

Sessions 2-4: Quilting futures. 
Teams will develop a plan for a textile art piece that depicts one frame from the comic book sketches they created in the last workshop. They will collage drawings and textile art on fabric imaged with proposed light rail station sites. The scene will communicate the world the team has envisioned, answering questions about how people get around and what the experience is like, including both positive and negative implications.

Public workshop.
During this final event, we will display the textile art produced by participants and all involved will invite friends and family to reflect on and respond to them.