Yarn Bomb 4th Avenue In A New Community Art Project

Ever wanted to try your hand at tagging the neighborhood? You’re about to get a shot — just not with the typical graffiti.

The 4th Ave Community Yarn Bomb is a new project from Arts Gowanus, the Textile Arts Center, the Old Stone House, and the Forth on Fourth Avenue (FOFA) committee of the Park Slope Civic Council that will let locals get creative in a public way, bringing colorful, out-of-the-ordinary art to the street to celebrate the bustling strip during Gowanus Open Studios 2015.

The project is open to anyone in the community who’d like to knit or crochet an 8″ x 8″ square to be a part of the installation, which will go up in a few places along 4th Avenue in October. (They’re still looking for additional sites — if you have a fence along 4th Avenue you’d like included, contact fofa@parkslopeciviccouncil.org.)

Though you could pitch in while watching TV at home, crafting up squares on your own and delivering them to the Textile Arts Center (505 Carroll Street), for those who need a little help with a pattern and some company, they’ll be hosting two free work sessions, both at the Textile Arts Center:

Thursday, September 17, 6:30-9pm
Sign up here

Thursday, September 24, 6:30pm-9pm
Sign up here

Some yarn and needles will be provided, though participants are welcome and encouraged to bring their own supplies, as well as continue construction at home. Space is limited, so please RSVP at the links above. And if you know a thing or two about knitting and crocheting and would like to help show others how to do it at one or both of these sessions, reach out to Elizabeth Neckes at elizabeth@artsgowanus.org.

Even more skilled than that? SJ Avery of FOFA tells us there’s a place for you, too.

“I am aware that there may well be more talented artists out there who want do do more than a square,” she says. “Those folks certainly are welcome and we will work to find space for them too.”

There will be a third volunteer session to put up the installation, with a time and location to be determined.