history pragmatic historian

The Covert Power of Fiber Arts

In this week’s post, I continue my discussion of Margaret Renkl’s article “Waking Up to History” in the New York Times. To see where this began, read last Monday’s post. Are Fiber Arts a Way to Subjugate Women? Along with being a public historian, I am a fiber artist and have been since I was a child. I learned some from my mom, who crochets extraordinary afghans, but I was also encouraged in my self-taught…

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art design projects

Slow Art: Corvid Bag

I completed another slow art piece this past week. Years and years ago I was inspired by the Ojibwe bandolier bags in my museum’s collection to make a bag that was roughly the same shape, featuring a large square pouch and wide shoulder strap. The feature of bandolier bags that makes them so incredibly beautiful is the bead applique, which covers practically the entire pouch and strap. This makes for a very heavy bag, but…

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