Augustana sought the help of Quad-City citizens to "yarn bomb" a tree along 7th Avenue in Rock Island and Longfellow Liberal Arts enthusiastically participated in the request. Ohio-based artist Carol Hummel, one of the early practitioners of yarn bombing, was hired by Augustana to plan and execute the project.
In September, Danielle Beliveau-Derion, Augustana Assistant Professor of Education and facilitator of Longfellow/Augustana education partnership, arranged a “crochet-in” at Longfellow. Students, staff and Longfellow families participated in the crochet-in to build pieces for the Yarn Bomb. Longfellow Teacher Berni Carmack helped coordinate volunteers and asked other community members to help with the project.
Artist Carol Hummel says her work is meant to traverse “the socially constructed constraints of difference by exploring the ties that bind human beings to each other through culture, kinship, history, social interaction and friendship.”
The Yarn Bomb project was funded by grant from National Endowment for the Arts awarded the Augustana Teaching Museum of Art.