The University of Connecticut’s Women’s Center has begun a textile drive in association with their upcoming Feminist Fiber Arts event on Oct. 1. The textile drive will be operating until Sept. 30, with the donation box located in the Women’s Center on the fourth floor of the Student Union.
“We are accepting any form of textile, as long as it’s been washed!” drive organizer Harley Niger said in an email. Niger is in their seventh semester at UConn, majoring in political science and minoring in dramatic arts and women’s, gender and sexuality studies. They are also a peer facilitator for the Women’s Center’s Violence Against Women Prevention Program.
According to Niger, accepted donations for the drive include old clothing items, bedsheets and towels.
“My main goal with this event, as well as with our Feminist Fiber Arts event, is [to] engage with topics of sustainability and feminism while also building community!” Niger wrote. “Outside of the center, I run my own small business where I create different pieces of fiber art made primarily from upcycled materials.”
The upcoming Feminist Fiber Arts event will take place on Oct. 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Women’s Center.
“For this event, we will be facilitating a discussion about women in art and the ways in which traditionally feminine forms of art are viewed by the world,” Niger wrote. “We will also be building a community quilt at this event! All attendees, regardless of experience level, will have the chance to patchwork or decorate their own square of fabric. We will then combine the squares to form a large, entirely upcycled quilt, which we plan to display in or around the Women’s Center!”
Individuals interested in the Feminist Fiber Arts event will be able to find QR codes for registration around campus, according to Niger. They added that the Women’s Center Instagram will be posting more information about the event soon.
“Sustainability in art is such an important practice!” Niger wrote. “I also look forward to the community building that will come from this event. People will be able to unite over passions for arts, feminism, and much more!”
Niger is working on the donation drive in partnership with Kyler Christina of the Women’s Center. Christina is a seventh-semester student majoring in women’s, gender and sexuality studies and is a facilitator for the organization’s Men’s Project.
“[Kyler] and I love fiber arts and we wanted to find a way to bring that passion to our work at the Center, so we collaborated on creating this event!” Niger wrote.
Niger noted that individuals interested in volunteering at the Women’s Center can do so by contacting the organization’s programming committee, either through the Women’s Center Instagram page or through its website at womenscenter.uconn.edu.
The Women’s Center is located in SU 421. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Thursday each week and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.