Betsy Greer
Craftivism.com founder, author and artist Betsy Greer will lecture at the University of Central Arkansas McCastlain Ballroom on Monday, March 12. Greer is the 2018 Norb and Carol Schedler Scholar-in-Residence, and her visit is also part of UCA’s celebration of Women’s History Month.
The free lecture, titled “Tiny Stitches, Maximum Impact,” is scheduled for 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Attendees are invited to stay for a reception after the lecture.
The lecture will also be available via live stream at
https://youtu.be/we9G1iSzkKE
Greer has been called the godmother of craftivism. A resident of Durham, North Carolina, she holds a master’s degree in sociology from Goldsmiths College, London, where her dissertation examined community development through knitting and DIY culture. She is the author of “Knitting for Good!” and editor of the anthology “Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism,” guides to using craft skills and creativity to improve the self, the community and the world at large.
She has lectured at universities and museums around the world, including the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her time is spent envisioning projects and collaborating with other artists and activists. Most recently she has spearheaded the cross-stitch graffiti project You Are So Very Beautiful (YASVB).
Greer is the latest in a series of nationally renowned speakers to be brought to campus through the Norb and Carol Schedler Scholar-in-Residence program, established by Distinguished Professor Emeritus and UCA Schedler Honors College founding director Norb Schedler and his wife, Carol. Schedler’s passionate interest in the future of human flourishing and the changing conditions of our environment, both natural and human-built, is reflected in the choice of topic and speaker for this event.
The visit is co-sponsored by the UCA Norbert O. Schedler Honors College, the Department of Philosophy and Religion, the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement and its Women’s Leadership Network, the College of Liberal Arts and the Gender Studies program. The lecture will be recorded and live-streamed by the Women’s Leadership Network.
“Betsy Greer’s ideas and energy are a major driving force behind the emerging practice of combining craft energy and political energy,” said Dr. Donna Bowman, professor at the Schedler Honors College. “Her work as an artist, author and collaborator provides the framework that activists in the anti-war movement, women’s marches and LGBTQ+ communities utilize for direct action. Her interest in the intersection between the material and ideological worlds connects perfectly with what Norb Schedler has explored with students over the 36-year history of Honors at UCA.”