The Cocoon at the Rensing Library

 (Above:  Me stitching inside The Cocoon.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Last Thursday was a wonderfully exciting day.  Not only was my installation, The Cocoon, already receiving visitors in the Rensing Center Library, but Libby Dallis, a multi-media specialist with SCETV (South Carolina Educational Television) came to interview me on film.  It was quite amazing to see the professional equipment being erected and put into use.

(Above:  Libby Dallis, setting up her equipment.)

Libby had already sent a list of questions.  We talked about my concepts, my TEDx talk that inspired this installation, the SC Arts Commission grant that helped fund the project, and the hopes that The Cocoon will find future venues.

 (Above:  Libby interviewing me inside The Cocoon.)

Libby was quite thorough and spent several hours capturing detail images and watching people view the installation during the evening's reception, including ...

... the children who really did add one of the available yoyo-s to the existing panels.  

 

It is my fond hope that more people will want to share stitches and embellishments to the installation.  Yet, I know that few will actually get to experience The Cocoon in person.  My husband Steve suggested a video.  He even shot one!  CLICK HERE for this You Tube video of The Cocoon!

(Above:  Steven Chapp posing beside his mother's 1948 satin wedding gown.)

One of the best moments of the day was a visit from printmaker Steven Chapp.  Steven donated his mother's incredible satin wedding dress to the installation.

Another special touch was the delectable canapes and deviled eggs served beside colorful flower arrangements.  The Rensing Center's board member Ron Few was in charge of hospitality.  I am so very, very grateful for his time, attention to details, and theatrical arrangements.

(Above:  Staff members/volunteers for the Oconee Cultivation Project viewing The Cocoon.)

On Friday morning, fifteen teenagers from the Oconee Cultivation Project came to the Rensing Center to learn about bees and other pollinators. Before embarking on this activity, they toured The Cocoon.  Because it is a bit tricky to receive permission to photograph and blog/publish images of minors, I took only images of the staff/adults!  (It was easy to ask the parents of the children attending the reception ... but not on a summer camp sort of workshop!)

(Above:  Katrina Black, a Parks & Recreation PhD candidate at Clemson University specializing in youth programming development.)

So ... I couldn't snap pictures of the teenagers but I could capture the dreamy look of one of their supervisors, Katrina Black, who recently became engaged and found the nostalgia of the wedding dress a perfect way to remember her family's sense of "home" and all their marriages!

Shortly after taking this picture, Steve and I had to dismantle The Cocoon.  It took only one-hour-and-fifteen minutes to take down all the panels, fold them over the heavy-duty hangers, walk the hangers to the cargo van, dismantle the pipe structure, and say good-bye.  I'm now back home putting the finishing touches on the final report for the South Carolina Arts Commission's successful grant!  Soon, I'll be working on an exhibition proposal and hoping to erect The Cocoon again!