Whitney Young High School 50^th Anniversary Planning

I met with the administration and the art department about incorporating more textiles within the Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary event planning. I was given directives: Because the school colors were orange and blue and the mascot was a dolphin, anything I created had to be orange and blue and/or have a dolphin. A drawing was made using a pen and computer paper by administration which had a capital “W” at the top of the page, a capital “Y” at the bottom of the page and a number “50” in the middle of the page which was supposed to be gold. We discussed multiple textiles projects. Me being me, I wanted to develop every last one of them, as I felt myself just coming to life at the creative brainstorming think tank I was immersed in.

I contacted Whitney Young High School alumni, their family and their friends. Some said they had no idea that the school was having a 50^th anniversary celebrations and were excited to share in the festivities by yarn bombing a car. During the four years of working with my patient, I worked at Whitney Young High School as a one-on-one nurse and was paid for my services as a nurse only.

I grew up reading Marva Collins’ books and watching the CBS movie about her life. Everyone around me had great respect for the personal sacrifices she made for her students. I did not see myself doing anything differently. I thought that this is what educators did. Certainly, nurses also did the same thing. I had a beloved aunt who had a Ph.D. in English who taught high school for 45 years. Each year, she took her students on a trip somewhere: New York for the Broadway shows, Orlando for Disney World. She was even the English teacher to Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens.

Further, even though my family is not affluent, but we have always believed in the value of an education. I grew up watching my parents fund raise for the elementary school I attended. That behavior was modeled to me and I thought fundraising for school was something that was normal and what everyone did. The Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary yarn bombing was a literal labor of love.

The Whitney Young High School yarn bombing project raised $1,000.00 for the school.

Xenobia Bailey

The first time I learned about yarn bombing was when I learned about Xenobia Bailey. There was an article written about her in Essence magazine after she’d crocheted one of director Spike Lee’s movie sets. There was a picture of her seated in front of one of her creations.

The term “yarn bombing” had not been used. We just said, “She crochets movie sets.” And that is what she did.

Years later, when I took formal knitting classes, I spent a lot of time in yarn shops, in libraries, in thrift stores, looking through books. I was looking for the name of the Afghan pattern my paternal grandmother had on her couch when I was growing up. The book that contained my grandmother’s Afghan pattern was called, “Mason Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiener and Ann Shayne. The Afghan pattern was called log cabin knitting. There was also a picture and a small article about Xenobia Bailey contained within the book.

That book was a constant companion of mine. I adored log cabin knitting. I especially liked the article on Xenobia Bailey. With the advancement of technology including personal websites, and YouTube, I was able to keep up with Xenobia Bailey a little better.

I told everyone I knew when she did the Funktional Vibrations mosaic for the 468^th subway station opening in New York in 2015.

I literally cheered her on from a distance and not knowing that one day, I would yarn bomb a car for Whitney Young High School.

The Car on the Whitney Young High School Sidewalk Would Look Better With Yarn

One morning when my patient and I arrived at Whitney Young High School, there was a Nissan Versa sitting on the sidewalk in front of the school. I had never seen a car parked on the sidewalk in front of a school before.

This was a first for me.

There was no need for coffee. I was wide awake. I knew from talking with the staff that the car would be auctioned and the money would be given to the school. I’d seen these types of fundraisers before as a healthcare worker, but when I saw it, yarn bombing was involved.

As a fifth generation textiles enthusiast, I thought, “That car would look better with yarn.”

My patient/student and I love Best Buddies art class! Best Buddies is a non-for-profit organization that creates relationships and opportunities with people who have a diverse range of disabilities.

Whitney Young High School has a Best Buddies art class. Within the class, students who do not have special needs or disabilities are paired with students who do have special needs and disabilities.

The instructor educates the students about artists from an array of visual media, including, but not limited to late artist Keith Herring. Keith Herring created the Best Buddies logo because one of his own family members was medically compromised and very dependent on their medical staff.

The artwork is amazing. The bonds that are created are memorable. Some students go to college within majors that will allow them to do work that is similar to their experience in the Best Buddies art class.

I had never had an artistic experience like this before and I loved it. Sometimes we went outside to create art, which was a reprieve from the cold winters when the weather was warmer. At the end of the year, there is a big art exhibition with food, live music and an all-around wonderful time.

As I bought my patient’s artwork home, his mother proclaimed, “This is so cool! We are going to open an art gallery for you!”

It wasn’t long after I started working as a one-on-one nurse at Whitney Young High School that the staff learned that I sewed. I showed pictures of the textiles I’d created from my iPhone. I call myself a fifth-generation textiles enthusiast. My maternal great great grandparents owned their own sewing business.

My family knits, quilts, crochets, embroiders, makes garments and weaves. I spent a good portion of my childhood watching them create the most amazing textiles I’ve ever seen that I still have in our family collection. I knew that when I grew up, I would carry on the family tradition by reading books and taking formal classes. I participated in art exhibitions at Hyde Park Art Center and Macy’s on State Street for their garden festival through the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

At the suggestion of my first museum curator, I was placed in touch with her friends who were Chicago Public School teachers and helped their classes make a community quilt project that were displayed in Seaway Bank. Later, I helped the University of Chicago Lab School with their community quilt projects that were displayed in the Gordon Parks Art Center.

I shared all of this information.

“You know, we usually plan a year to two years in advance, but the Whitney young High School 50^th anniversary is coming. We should talk about having you make something at some point. The school colors are orange and blue. The mascot is a dolphin,” the art department told me.

“I would absolutely love to,” I said. After that, I went to thrift stores looking for fabric and sewing supplies. In sewing circles, if anyone was giving away anything, I took it and thanked them profusely. I took advantage of every sale at Michaels when I learned about it.

One day, one of my uncles saw my sewing collection and said, “I don’t believe this! You have enough yarn and fabric to open your own store.”

I called it manifestation.