Threads of Footscray: Community art project

Join a community project to create a beautiful needlepoint artwork.
Thursday 28 April 2016

To celebrate 100 years of education in Footscray, Victoria University are running a creative project that will bring together different communities, artists and crafters.

The intrinsic beauty of Footscray lies in its diverse mix of landscapes, from the natural bushlands of Newells Paddock to the industrialised factories and containers on the horizon.

Participants will work together to create a beautiful needlepoint artwork focusing on how blue threads through the diverse landscapes of Footscray.

Renowned local artist Jessie Deane will curate the piece and mentor community members in producing the large scale needlepoint, which will be included in a broader exhibition.

How will it work?

40 community and university participants will be invited to gather up to four landscape images of Footscray with blue as the recurring theme. Jessie Deane will select the final images for inclusion.

Each participant will be given an image to stitch and will need to commit to the completion of the artwork and four workshops between May and October 2016.

Once completed, the images will be curated into a display for exhibition at VU at Metro West in December as part of the VU Centenary Home Coming weekend.

Register your interest

To register your interest please email [email protected]

Image submission deadline and registrations close on 13 May 2016.

This is an initiative of Victoria University’s Centenary year and part of Footscray University Town initiative.

About the artist

Jessie Deane is a textile artist from Yarraville in Melbourne's west. Jessie recently won the 2014 Melbourne Fringe Best Visual Arts Award for her exhibition, ‘(Thr)edifice’ and was a finalist in the inaugural Victorian Craft award in 2015.

Jessie is currently working on her next major solo show, Thread West (Serial Stitcher), which will feature up to 30 new works and will be at the Roslyn Smorgon Gallery FCAC in September 2016.

My work captures, in thread, the richness I find in the decaying urban facades and streetscapes of Melbourne’s west. Stitch-by-stitch, in vibrant colour, I recreate these abandoned, fading or forgotten structures that are for me, objects of beauty.

Needlepoint workshops

Throughout the project, we'll be running a few workshops with Jessie to help get you started and to solve any needlepoint issues you may be having.

  • 4 June 2016, 10am - 2pm: Meet the Artist, Jessie Deane and other participants. Learn how to transfer images to material and learn all the needlepoint techniques you need to get you started.
  • 25 June 2016, 23 July 2016 & 8 October 2016, 10am - 1pm: A chance to catch up and refresh your memory on techniques.