A new community arts project at St Laurence Church is inviting visitors to describe themselves in their own words – and help create a lasting artwork that celebrates the rich diversity of the people who use and love the church.
Interwoven opens at St Laurence Church, Stroud, on Saturday 8 August and runs throughout the month.
The interactive exhibition combines hands-on weaving with a unique community participation project. Visitors are invited to try simple tabletop looms, creating woven cloth alongside other members of the community, while also answering a different kind of question:
‘How would you describe yourself?’
Rather than asking people to complete traditional monitoring surveys based on age, gender or ethnicity, Interwoven encourages visitors to choose words that genuinely reflect who they are – or add their own if they don’t see themselves represented. These responses will form the inspiration for a major community textile artwork to be created next year.
The finished banners will incorporate naturally dyed wool coloured using plants gathered from within the sound of St Laurence Church’s bells, creating a vibrant textile that reflects the many people, stories and identities connected to the church.
The weaving element of the project is being led by Nicola Builder, owner of Stroud’s Wayward Weaves on George Street, who is training a team of volunteers to help visitors create beautiful woven pieces throughout the exhibition. The naturally dyed yarn has been created by local natural dyer Louise Phelps, using colours derived from local plants.
‘I’m really excited to be a part of this,’ said Nicola. ‘We will be taking our lovely looms into the church and weaving. It is a communal piece with members of the local community, where we’ll be inviting them to choose a thread that they feel represented themselves.
We’ll end up with a beautiful community woven piece for people in the local area and will be left in the church and enjoyed for generations to come by other people.’
Camilla Hale, Community Engagement Lead for St Laurence Restored, said:
‘Interwoven reminds us that we all have a wealth of talents, characteristics and experiences that are rarely captured by traditional surveys. People come through the doors of St Laurence Church from all over Stroud, the surrounding valleys, the county and beyond.
‘This project invites everyone to share something of who they are and, quite literally, weave those stories together into something beautiful and colourful. We hope people of all ages will come in, have a go at weaving, find the words that describe them, and become part of a lasting artwork that represents our whole community.’
Interwoven is free to take part in, with no previous weaving experience needed. Everyone is welcome to drop in, learn a simple weaving technique, contribute to the communal cloth and add their own words to this evolving portrait of the St Laurence community.
Interwoven
St Laurence Church, Stroud
Open: Saturdays: 8, 15, 22 & 29 August, 10.30am–1.00pm;
Fridays: 14, 21 & 28 August, 10.00am–1.00pm
Admission is free and all are welcome.
