Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry

For People Sheltered In Place and Those Un-sheltered:

You are invited to create a symbolic expression of personal dignity within a hexagon having 5.5” sides. Guidelines in Spanish and English are downloadable. A primed 12 oz. canvas hexagon will be supplied upon request. You are invited to donate your hexagon to the Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry to be included in the tapestry construction. Multiple panels will be created. The tapestry will be part of art installations and classroom presentations. 

Timeline: 

Please submit your Hexagon of Dignity by June 1, 2022 to be part of the initial panels of dignity, representing art made globally, during Shelter In Place. Hexagons can be submitted ongoing. The intention is to have hexagons submitted from all over the world.

Materials:

For durability, please use waterproof art supplies in creating your design. The tapestries can be painted; drawn with permanent markers; embroidered; silk screened or other printmaking methods; even fabric applique. To protect the integrity of your designs, please do not use glitter or attach objects to your hexagon. The completed panels for the tapestry will be rolled like scrolls when being transported.

For Any Questions and Upon Completion:

Please contact Sarah

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If you would like to write about your experience developing your symbol of personal dignity and share this, I would like to archive your writing, and with your written permission, potentially use your writing, along with your hexagon in documentation about the creating of the Hexagons of Dignity Tapestry. Please send your written experience with your hexagon of dignity.

Innovations and flexibility have been essential during this extraordinary time of Shelter In Place:

As part of the Art Tent Project, I had been developing visual aids and classroom curriculum for the youth at New Directions School, and homeless participants in the Expressive Arts classes at The Living Room, in preparation of their participation in the  first Art Tent  Project mural installation.  The concept of Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry, was inspired by knowing there was a limited number of hexagons available as part of the Art Tent Project mural design. The Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry was further developed with the Shelter In Place Mandates. Creating tapestries sewn from hexagons of equal size will allow for a “mural” of indefinite proportions. 

The tapestry panels can interlock and fit together representing the inter-dependency and unity in dignity, of all peoples:

The finished tapestry panels will be two sided and function as corridors and gallery walls. The tapestry panels can easily roll-up; be protected; travel; and inform people in all walks of life. The Art Tent itself, will provide ongoing engagement through the mural painting; by becoming a gallery for the Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry; a portable classroom and space for diverse communities to gather, when Shelter In Place mandates are lifted. 

At Risk Youth and New Directions Students:

The Clinical Director of New Directions School, Lisa Manthe and the Creative Arts Team of the California Parenting Institute (CPI) are enthusiastic about including the  Hexagons of Dignity Tapestry in their Shelter In Place home arts projects for at risk youth they serve.  CPI is providing these youth, the New Directions students, with art supplies. The pre-cut primed canvas hexagons have been added to this care package. Lisa Manthe wrote me:

 "I am writing to extend my full support and commitment as a collaborator in the Hexagons of Dignity Tapestry . The community of New Directions greatly benefited from our inclusion within the start of your Art Tent Project , and we were delighted that the project has been adapted in response to COVID-19 . The adolescents of New Directions represent a highly marginalized population who are facing the challenges of trauma, socio-economic limitations, and inadequate housing. These projects offer them the opportunity to create connections and contemplate dignity, identity, community, and place.  The adolescent artists, through the experience of creating their storied artworks and reflective dialogue regarding the human condition of dignity, will become empowered and experience inclusion and a broader sense of community. 

Now more than ever, our adolescents are isolated from the connection and community that they need to address their identity development. Community art process calls for deep reflection, and will amplify their voices,  shaping their ideas of themselves and others while creating inclusion.The art process within the Hexagons of Dignity Tapestry  reflects the wisdom of the multi- cultural  traditions of storied textiles bridging generations and cultures. Community mural projects such as the Hexagons of Dignity Tapestry serve as counter narratives challenging the oppressive social forces that predict voice and power. 

The collaboration with diverse communities broadens their perspective exposing them to new opportunities. The community of New Directions continues to be excited by the leadership opportunities this project offers our youth."

If you work with or know of people that would want to be included in this project, please contact Sarah@SarahHylton.com

Tax Deductable Donations:

For myself, as a process artist, working with what arises is familiar to me. Innovation is part of developing resiliency. Facilitating opportunities for ongoing creative restorative art processes for peoples in diverse settings gives me joy. I have worked with homeless community members; at risk youth and people experiencing symptoms of PTSD. The creative and healing arts are my passion. I am project based and rely on grants and sponsorship for my community arts projects and at this time, livelihood. If you have the means to offer support for the Hexagons of Dignity Tapestry; The Art Tent Project or other of my arts based, restorative community endeavors your tax deductible donations are gratefully accepted. I am fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas.

The Art Tent's first project was initially, designing and painting a “pop up” canvas tent in collaboration with homeless community members, human rights advocates and housed Sonoma County residents. This project was postponed due to Shelter In Place Mandates. When these mandates were not lifted in a viable way, the original tent purchased for the project was donated to the Oglala Lakota Nation of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

The mural and Art Tent concept can resume as originally conceived when the community of Sonoma County will allow for organizations such as SAVS to purchase and/or lease lands for serving the homeless, with a tiny village, where an Art Tent can legally be raised. 

The mural will be painted with the tent as the actual canvas.  The painting of the tent will be facilitated in the humanistic approach of whole person-centered expressive arts. The project will incorporate the techniques of executing a community mural project as taught by Susan Cervantes, Precita Eyes Founder.  The painted tent will be a community meeting space, an art classroom and will also be a gallery for installations.  It will be both an experience of and symbol for, the restorative nature of creating and being informed by art. 

The intention of the project is to create a forum that is healing in nature while being engaged in designing and/or painting a symbolic representation of “personal dignity”.  The community members will be invited to explore their sense of personal dignity and to develop a symbolic representation of this exploration which will then be painted on the tent within a hexagon.  This will be a free event.

Dates and Location

The mural painting of the Art Tent has been postponed due to  mandated restrictions and responses to public health . You are invited to join The Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry, in the meantime.

Who Can Partcipate?

The Art Tent Project mural painting is open to all peoples, homeless community members, human rights advocates and housed residents.  There is an established community of homeless people that have attended other art classes and projects co-facilitated by the lead artist.  Because of the trust firmly established over years with the lead artist, especially with homeless women, the Art Tent will be able to encourage a larger homeless participation than might otherwise be possible, simply by word of mouth. 

The elements of the mural design will incorporate the ideas of community members as well as a framework for their personal contributions.  Some aspects of the mural will be designed solely by the lead artist.  Those wishing to paint images, but not design the image(s), will be able to contribute to the mural in a “paint by number style” as the lead artist will have included elements of the mural design specifically for this level of participation. 

Supported by Homeless Action and Homeless Advocates

This project is supported by Homeless Action, and homeless advocates in multiple counties.  Community members are well aware of the debilitating circumstances and environments that homeless people often live in and can help create an environment that is beautiful and inspires wellness to house the homeless.  The more people that know about The Art Tent Project and support what is being created, the more possible it is for our homeless and under served community members to have the healing support they need to empower themselves and to explore their personal dignity. 

Tent Description

The 14'X16' all weather canvas tent has a stove and can sleep six on cots. There is room for 8 people to sleep if the stove is not installed. From a creative community space to an all-weather living space, the Art Tent provides options during a time in which our community needs creative, sustainable solutions. 

Funding

The Art Tent Project is  designed to be funded through sponsorship and grants. Additional sponsorship is welcome to meet budget requirements and would be greatly appreciated. The budget proposal is available upon request. Sarah is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas. 

Sarah received the  Creative Sonoma, 2020 Pop Up Art Grant for the Art Tent mural painting event. Due to Shelter In Place Mandates Sarah has reorganized the Art Tent Project's first "Pop Up Event" to be the Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry.

Contact Sarah to Get Involved

There are many supportive ways to engage now, and you are invited to contact Sarah Hylton, Artistic Director and Project Manager of the Art Tent through this website. 

Tax deductible donations are gratefully received.

The Three Sisters Mural was designed as a community project for youth at the Ceres Community Project garden in Santa Rosa and youth at the SAY Dream Center. The mural design illustrates the interdependence of all sentient beings from starlight to salmon. We come from one another. We are a biological ecosystem interdependent on countless others. The mural is dedicated in honor of the indigenous beings of the region.

The three sisters, corn, beans and squash are native plants to the Americas. The plants are often personified in indigenous story telling. The synergy between the three sisters demonstrates collective resiliency and interdependence. All three sisters grow strong in harmony with one another; each adding their reflection of starlight.

Corn shoots up first and provides a sturdy stalk for the beans to vine up. The delicate tendrils and flowers of bean can spiral up the corn stalk as they both grow. The bean pods can dangle freely as they ripen on the vine. The bean roots interact with bacteria in the soil that collects nitrogen. The beans in turn, extract nitrogen from the soil, and store it in nodules along their roots. Beans are known for adding nitrogen to the soil as they synthesize it from the bacteria and make it available for other plants, like corn and squash.

The squash has big sprawling leaves and provides shade to the roots of the corn and beans, helping to keep moisture in the soil. Many bacteria thrive amidst the shade cover of the squash. She provides a canopy for bacteria that gather light and create serotonin to nourish life. The leaves of plants gather the sun, moon, starlight and water. The flowers, fruits and vegetables attract bees and feed birds, and us. 

Sarah volunteered her time and the mural was completed in August of 2019. It can be seen at the Ceres Project Garden on the SAY Finley Dream Center Campus 2447 Summerfield Rd. Santa Rosa, CA 95405. 

The Puzzle Project was designed in a retreat format for homeless and transitionally housed women. The women met on a Saturday at The Living Room, a day service campus providing support for women and children experiencing housing insecurity. The project was developed to reinforce that each unique person and puzzle piece matters and has a place in the whole puzzle. Essentially, the completed Puzzle Project can be hung on all sides rendering four ways of hanging the puzzle. The viewer can have different perspectives to the whole Puzzle Project.

There were twenty puzzle pieces cut from a 4’X5’ sheet of MDO board. The women chose their puzzle piece without knowledge of how the puzzle piece would articulate with other puzzle pieces. The prompt was, “depict the core need or aspiration you want to manifest in your life.” Alternatively, they could follow their inspiration; allowing themselves to be informed by color and what arose spontaneously. Acrylic paint and permanent markers were available. The women assembled the puzzle at the end of the retreat. The Puzzle Project is mounted and hung with the French cleat hanging method.

Some women continued working on their puzzle pieces, completing them during the Expressive Arts classes at The Living Room. These classes have been held for the last six years. Generosity from a local Philanthropist conceived of and funded the classes through the California Parenting Institute and their Creative Arts team. The whole person-centered approach fundamental to these classes has helped to resource many women traumatized and experiencing PTSD, further exacerbated by lack of housing stability. A creative safe environment is provided where positive regard is cultivated and encouraged. Social interactions are reinforced in a manner conducive to creative self- exploration, building on tolerance, understanding, respect and trust. The classes are currently co facilitated by Shellee Davis and Sarah Hylton.