Shannon Downey joins us in our second-floor reading room to talk about her new book, Let's Move the Needle, an inspiring guide to social activism from the artist and craftivist behind Badass Cross Stitch. She'll be in conversation with local activist and embroiderer Amanda Nordstrom. Bring a project to work on -- or pick up supplies from local yarn shop Wild Hand -- for this stitch & bitch-style evening.
Seats and copies of the book are limited: please RSVP via Eventbrite here.
Shannon Downey is the founder of Badass Cross Stitch and Seriously Badass Women, and is an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, and general instigator. Her work moves people from passive consumers of art into engaged crea tors and leverages craft-based art forms to bring people together, present opportunities to transition from makers to change makers, and inspire radical hope for what is possible. Her award-winning work can be found in galleries, museums, and private collections around the world and has been featured in outlets including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Atlas Obscura, Fast Company, and i-D, and books including Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Signs of Resistance: A Visual History of Protest in America. She is on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Amanda Nordstrom is an activist, artist, attorney, and happily childfree cat (and dog) lady on a mission to make the world a kinder place for animals and humans. She started her activism young, helping rescue feral cats as a kid, and at about the same time, she picked up a needle and thread to start her journey as an embroidery artist. Amanda channeled her passion for activism into a law degree and has worked for several nonprofit organizations, including the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, Women Against Abuse, and the American Anti-Vivisection Society. She is proud to have been a lawyer at the international animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for nearly 12 years as a "voice for the voiceless," fighting to stop animal experimentation worldwide. She now helps other activists, professors, and college students make their own voices heard as a Campus Rights attorney at FIRE, the nonpartisan nonprofit free speech organization right here in Philadelphia. Amanda loves combining her activism and her art, and can often be found stitching up a powerful new piece or teaching others how to embody their voices through embroidery. She believes in the power of radical self-expressive art to beautify and change society.