Monday, November 14, 2022
Image Gallery
A light yellow brushstrook swoosh with black text on top of it that reads "Stanley Campus Council Monthly Meetup"

What is a Monthly Meetup? 

Every month, the Stanley Campus Council hosts one event geared toward engaging the entire student body--undergraduate and graduate students of all majors and programs of study. These events vary in the proposed activity or focus, but all were designed by students for students, with a goal of encouraging UI students to visit the Stanley and familiarize themselves with its presence on campus. These events take place Thursday evenings, when the museum is open late, from 6 - 7:30 pm. 

 

 

Students are gathered around a conference table, each working on their own mending project. One student in the foreground, back to the camera, is focused on a book that is open, displaying various sashiko stitching techniques and patterns.

November Thoughts

This month, we decided to focus on the ideas of sustainability and community. We felt these concepts were timely for a few reasons. Firstly, Thanksgiving occurs during the month of November--we wanted to nod at the ideas of thankfulness and coming together that we feel are at the root of that holiday. Everyone on campus has family and community on the mind at this point, whether they head back to homes across the state, country, or world to celebrate with their families, or if they stick around Iowa City to find a new community to celebrate the holiday with. And secondly, right after Thanksgiving comes Black Friday and the mad dash that is holiday shopping--a time in which a lot of us rush to buy and consume in ways that are potentially unsustainable. 

 

A poster advertising the SCC's Food Drive to benefit the Food Pantry at Iowa.

SCC Food Drive to Benefit Food Pantry at Iowa

The first component of our event was a food and hygiene product drive! We chose to partner with the Food Pantry at Iowa, a student organization and free service created to benefit the campus community. The Food Pantry at Iowa aims to not only provide resources for food-insecure college students, faculty, and staff but also aims to raise awareness about the important issue of college food insecurity. By hosting hunger awareness events throughout the year like food drives, hunger banquets, and cooking demos, Food Pantry at Iowa is fighting for a change. Anyone on campus can get involved in the fight against food insecurity, regardless of their position. Together, the University of Iowa can make a change for the better.

So, for the entire month of November, the Stanley Campus Council set up a few bins and a sign in the Stanley Museum of Art lobby and encouraged visitors and community members to bring nonperishable goods as well as hygiene products to donate to the Food Pantry at Iowa. 

 

 

November 10 Event

For our November event, we wanted to focus on sustainability. We identified our wardrobes as areas in which we could stand to be more sustainable--with cheap fast fashion in such high supply and marketed to us constantly, it's easy to throw away or give up on clothes we have that are either ripped or "out of style." In order to try and encourage students to, instead, fix up the clothes they already have (whether they're ripped/ broken or just no longer spark joy) by hosting a mending workshop! 

For this event, we recruited MFA Candidate Lilah Ward Shepherd, at the School of Art and Art History, to lead a sashiko stitching and mending workshop. Sashiko is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. We met with Lilah to go over the plan, and then purchased enough supplies for 20+ people to be able to mend or spiff up their broken or boring clothing. Lilah prepared a slideshow presentation and brought along a few books to teach about sashiko, its history, and the different applications of the technique for both functional and decorative purposes. 

In addition to the mending workshop, we worked with collections staff to put out a display of garment and textile based art from the Stanley Museum of Art's collection. On display were a range of beautiful clothing and cultural garments: we had Dibul kouan (woman's beaded apron), a Mfengu Ingqosha (woman's collar), and a Yoruba Lawyer's wig, among others. One of our favorite works from this special display was the Mfengu Amaphoco (man's love letter) by Mamtolo Miya. Historically, these types of love letter necklace/ pendants were a declaration of love, handmade by a girl or woman and then given to her lover to wear, displaying their love for and commitment to one another. We also appreciated the delicate and detailed beadwork on the Assiniboin Mocassins, which seemed almost too beautiful to even think about wearing. 

Three students stand in the Visual Classroom, looking down at a display of artwork from the collection that is laid out for them on the table.

We hoped showing these works would encourage people to consider the cultural impact of clothing--how what you wear can have meaning and make a statement about you--as well as the labor that goes into garment creation, even if we as consumers are so removed from the labor of it in today's fast fashion market. 

Despite the torrential downpour that took place most of the day, our event had a really great turnout--over 20 students (as well as a few members of the general public) showed up to consider sustainable garment practices and to learn from Lilah how to mend or embellish their clothing using some sashiko stitching techniques! 

 

Looking Forward 

One student shows off their handiwork; they have patched the pink sweater they are wearing at the sleeve near their wrist, with a blue patch with decorative stitching.

You can expect Monthly Meetups to happen... well, once a month! Follow us on Instagram to keep up to date with what we've got planned for each event, and check back here for photos and recaps on how these events went. 

Did you attend this Monthly Meetup, or any other Monthly Meetup, and take pictures? Share them with us via email!

Bummed you missed this event? Keep an eye on our blog for an upcoming post that gives an in-depth tutorial on how you can mend or embellish your clothing with sashiko stitching methods.  

To see more of Lilah's work, check out her Instagram(s): @lilah_shepherd and @lilah_ward. 

If you're interested in learning more about any of the works listed in this recap, feel free to check out the Iowa Digital Library--you can find a significant portion of the Stanley's Collection on this online database. And if you see something online that sparks your interest and you'd like to check it out in person, you can fill out this form to request an object study. If you are a TA and want to theme one of your classes around certain works, this is also a great option! The Stanley's Academic Outreach Coordinator, Kathryn Reuter, would be happy to help get something scheduled for you: for more information, please visit this link. 

Gallery
A poster advertising the SCC's Food Drive to benefit the Food Pantry at Iowa.
A poster advertising the sashiko stitching and mending workshop led by MFA candidate Lilah Ward Shepherd.
Students begin working on their mending projects. Everything is laid out on the table--scraps of fabric, sewing needles, ripped garments, and threads. The screen in the background at the head of the table displays an example of a coat decorated with sashiko statching.
Students are gathered around a conference table, each working on their own mending project. One student in the foreground, back to the camera, is focused on a book that is open, displaying various sashiko stitching techniques and patterns.
A close up image of a woman working on mending a colorful patchwork apron-style garment.
Three students stand in the Visual Classroom, looking down at a display of artwork from the collection that is laid out for them on the table.
An image of two students sitting together, both bent over their work. The one on the left pulls thread through a garment that they are patching. The one on the right adjusts and makes stitches into the garment she is mending; a pair of ripped jeans with a yellow floral patch she's added.
A shot of the table in the seminar room. it is covered in colorful bits of scrap fabric for people to use to patch their garments. Five people sit across the table, facing the camera. One person is in front of the camera, facing away, looking at the garment that they are mending.
Two students gaze down at work from the collection that is displayed on the white tables in front of them. One in the background looks at a red beaded Yoruba lawyer's wig. The one in the foreground gazes at a beaded apron.
A close up example of a garment one student works on--it is a black crewneck sweater that she has covered with patches of varying fabrics, achieving a patchwork look.
A photo of the class gathered at the table. Fifteen or twenty students sit at a long conference table covered in fabric scraps, books, and garments. At the head of the table is a screen that is displaying a close up of varying sashiko stitches.
One student shows off their handiwork; they have patched the pink sweater they are wearing at the sleeve near their wrist, with a blue patch with decorative stitching.
An image of Lilah leading the sashiko workshop. She stands at the head of the table, gesturing towards a screen which displays images of her work that makes use of sashiko. 10 or 15 students sit around the table, which is covered in fabric scraps and their mending projects, watching her.
An image of the chaos of the work table - books, threads, garments, and colorful piles of scrap fabric in every shape and size.
Students begin working on their mending projects. Everything is laid out on the table--scraps of fabric, sewing needles, ripped garments, and threads.
A student decides what patch fabrics they want to use for their mending project. They choose two yellow fabrics, one polka-dot and one floral, to place on their denim jeans.