KtB Artist in Residence at the Neighborhood Academy

Since this summer, Knit the Bridge has been on the move all around Pittsburgh and the region spreading the word and teaching folks the artsy way of knit and crochet.

Last November and December Knit the Bridge lead artist, Amanda Gross was supported by the Arts in Education Partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to bring Knit the Bridge to the Neighborhood Academy’s Arts Connection program.  The Arts in Education Partnership for this residence (and others in Allegheny, Beaver, Greene, and Washington counties ) is Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

 

 

This fall’s group consisted of mainly 8th and 9th graders (and one wise 11th grader).  The group learned that you can knit with anything from brooms to chopsticks.

Knitting with anything from brooms to chopsticks… but mainly knitting needles.

Several of the students were energized by the prospect of telling the peers, classmates, and parents about the project.  One of our students even took a community leadership role and spread the Knit the Bridge word at her old school!

Faster with practice

After creating their own yarn bomb at the invitation of Zeke’s Coffee in East Liberty…

The design process…

…the group designed and began a panel for the bridge.

This process involved learning color theory,

Bright color choices

using geometry and other mathematical skills,

and figuring out how to collaborate with a team of teenagers (each with their own artistic vision).

Speaking of bright, in January a second Arts Connection group joined the Knit the Bridge crew…

Stay tuned for more stories and photos of their accomplishments…

Round two Neighborhood Academy students knitting for the bridge…

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