Stitch & Sip

This unique event will happen in-person in three rural communities, and be linked together via Zoom with a lively talk from Dr. Jennifer Salahub from the Alberta Craft Council about the history of craft in Alberta. Also learn about Alberta Women's Institutes at the event, which have been empowering rural women and communities since 1909.

Each location will receive a crochet demonstration from their on-site AWI member. Tea and snacks provided and your supplies are yours to take home!

Choose your location at the checkout: Alliance, James River, or South Cooking Lake

Hosted by Athabasca University's Communities in Transition and Alberta Women's Institutes.

Just how Crafty is Craft? What craft in Alberta has to say about community

One hates to say that craft has an agenda, but certainly our speaker does – exposing craft’s “crafty” nature. Drawing on her experiences as a craft historian she plans to introduce us to some of the notable roles that community has played in the making of craft in Alberta and, at the same time, will point out the starring role that craft itself has played in the creation of community. Adelaide Hoodless certainly recognized the power of craft when, in 1900, she signalled a direction the WI could take, “up to the present time, little effort has been made towards developing a distinctly Canadian character in the various arts and crafts”. From its inception the WI has promoted traditional crafts and craft skills underscoring not only the value of craft as a manifestation of identity but more importantly as a signifier of community values. But there is so much more...

Dr. Salahub is a professor emerita from the Alberta University of the Arts (formerly ACA, ACAD) where she taught art, textile, and craft history for almost twenty years. She has an MFA in Canadian art history from Concordia University in Montreal and a PhD in Design history from the Royal College of Art in London, England. She continues to do research, publish, and lecture internationally and has been on the board of the Alberta Craft Council since 2010. Jennifer is indeed an academic but the only thing of import tonight is that her research is defined by craft, by community, and by enthusiasm. [And lest you think this might be a boring academic talk – she is a story teller and a maker – and grew up hearing stories about Adelaide Hoodless and is willing to bet she has as much fabric hidden under the bed as any of us.] .

Funded through Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the goal of the Athabasca University Communities in Transition initiative is to counter trends of decline in rural communities in by uncovering and amplifying strategies and solutions for rural regions across western Canada, supporting rural networking and sharing, and contributing to and making more accessible relevant data/information to strengthen the economic, social, and cultural fabric of rural communities.