Bellevue Arts Museum Loops in Community with Crochet Project

The Bellevue Arts Museum is hosting artist Mandy Greer, as she brings the public into a community project that will blanket several blocks near the museum.

Greer will install "Mater Matrix Mother and Medium," a fiber river stretching over the two city blocks of Northeast Sixth Street, for the 2013 BAM ARTSfair. The installation includes at least 200 feet of crocheted panels in varying shades of blue, which alludes to water, according to Greer. She will drape and stitch the handmade panels onto the lampposts and other structures along the street.

The installation will lead people from the Bellevue Transit Center to the museum and will remain for a few weeks after the fair.

Greer is hosting community crochet workshops at the Bellevue Arts Museum, so anyone can contribute crochet panels that will be part of this artwork. Participants have included people experienced with crochet and people who have never held a hook, Greer said.

The next two workshops are from noon to 3 p.m. June 30, and noon to 6 p.m. July 5. Greer also will hold workshops during ARTSfair.

ARTSfair is one of three arts festivals that will be held during Bellevue Arts Week, July 26 - 28, 2013. That weekend, downtown Bellevue will host BAM's ARTSfair, the Bellevue Downtown Association's The Sixth Street Fair, and the Bellevue Festival of the Arts.

Greer created "Mater Matrix Mother & Medium" in 2009, and alludes to our culture's relationship with water, according to the Bellevue Arts Museum. The piece was originally commissioned by Seattle Public Utilities in 2009 for installations around Seattle. Since then, it has been installed in New York City and Atlanta and has involved crocheters from around the United States contributing their work to the project.

On the web:
Mandy Greer: mater matrix mother and medium