Making Change: The Art And Craft Of Activism

June 3, —
September 9, 2018

How do we make change in our world? What tools can we use to make a difference? How can one person raise awareness of social injustice or motivate action that makes the world a better place? These are the questions that guide artists, designers, and crafters across the nation; they create answers with their hands. They harness the power of creativity to address contemporary issues, and they make things in order to make a difference.

MODA’s 2018 exhibition Making Change: The Art and Craft of Activism explored this concept and focused on the power of Craftivism: a worldwide movement operating at the intersection of craft and activism. Across the globe, artists and crafters armed with traditional materials like yarn, glue guns, quilt patterns, sewing needles, X-ACTO knives, and other tools are using their hands to protest social and political inequalities and injustices.

The time spent on these works shows the dedication to creating pieces that evoke emotion and promote discussion. By sharing ideas expressed through the work of their hands, these artists and crafters aim to make you think, explore and take note.



Visitors got involved and made change by . . .

Making Welcome Blankets

Los Angeles-based designer and artist Jayna Zweiman developed Welcome Blanket to inspire creative and critical responses to current issues around immigration, cultural displacement, and geographic relocation.

To participate in this project, individuals knit, quilted, crocheted, or sewed 40 x 40inch blankets and packaged them with their own stories of immigration, migration, or relocation, as well as words of welcome for our new neighbors. They sent the blankets to MODA, where they were sorted, catalogued, and exhibited.

At the end of Making Change, the blankets were distributed to immigrants and refugees along with the notes of welcome written by their makers.

Participating in Badass HERStory

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Shannon Downey, known across the internet as Badass Cross Stitch, is an artist, craftivist, community organizer, and general instigator. She recently launched Badass HERstory, a global craftivism project meant to capture and share the stories of women, female-identified, and gender non-binary humans through fiber art. Her aim is to empower individuals, build community, and reshape narrative.

MODA visitors were invited to participate in this crowd-sourced project by stitching their story on a 12 x 12" piece of fabric and adding it to the other stories created by Atlanta craftivists.


Exhibition Participants Included:

  • Alex Briseno

  • Alice Drueding

  • Alireza Mostafazadeh

  • Andrew Lewis

  • Armando Milani

  • Ashley Lukashevsky

  • Ashton Taylor

  • Brooke Fischer

  • Bulent Erkmen

  • Cedomir Kostovic

  • Celeste Byers

  • Chanelle Librada Reyes

  • Chaz Maviyane-Davies

  • Chip Thomas

  • Chris Serrano

  • Chun-ilang Leo Lin

  • Civilization

  • Coco Cerrella

  • Copper Greene

  • Dalida Karić - Hadžiahmetović

  • Daniel Jasper

  • David Tartakover

  • Donal Thornton

  • Duqudus

  • Ernesto Yerena

  • Fang Chen

  • Gina Kiel

  • Gregg Deal

  • Guerrilla Girls

  • Götz Gramlic

  • HAWRAF

  • Herman Ibanez

  • Icy and Sot

  • Jackie Red Fawn

  • Jess X Snow

  • Joe Scorsone

  • John Creson

  • John Yates

  • Jon Key

  • Josh MacPhee

  • Kate Deciccio

  • Koy Suntichotinun-Act

  • Lex Drewinski

  • Margarita Sada

  • Mario Fuentes

  • Marty Neumeier

  • Mata Ruda

  • Michael Mabry

  • Mirko Ilić

  • Mohammad Sharaf

  • Molly Crabapple

  • Monica Schlaug

  • Munk One

  • Natalia Delgado Avila

  • Nenad Cizi

  • Nicholas Blechman

  • Paula Scher

  • Ramzi Moutran

  • Rena Chrysikopoulous

  • Robbie Conal

  • Robert Montgomery

  • Rommy Torrico

  • Sean Adams

  • Shepard Fairey

  • Shi-Zhe Yung

  • Stanley Eisenman

  • Studio Number One

  • Tan Kien Eng

  • Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

  • Teresa Tsang Teng

  • Toni Tomasek

  • Trudy Cole-Zielanski

  • United Unknown

  • Wesam Mazhar Haddad

  • Will Brown

  • Wishmini Perera

  • Woody Pirtle