Workshop Led by Renowned Doll Maker

FRANCINE HASKINS

Maximum Participants: 15, Requires bringing a simple sewing kit

FrancineHaskinsatCityLore.eventbrite.com

 “Growing up,

You want to conform to what everyone else is doing.

Until one day…

YOU ARE OKAY.”

[excerpt from the poem “The Calling” by Francine Haskins]

Renowned doll maker, Francine Haskins, will lead the culminating public program, “Doll Making: A Healing Art for Adults,” bringing to a close City Lore’s exhibition, “The Calling: The Transformative Power of African American Doll and Puppet Making.” Ms. Haskins, the linchpin of this exhibition, has envisioned this workshop as a straightforward, therapeutic, and healing experience.

Participants are asked to bring a sewing kit that includes:

1. Craft scissors; Fabric scissors; Assorted needles

2. Assorted threads

3. Four felt squares (optional)

4. Embellishments –especially significant small items like buttons, broken jewelry, sequins, etc.

The workshop is crafted to unlock both the creativity and apprehension associated with art. “There are a lot of wonderful artists out there that don’t even realize that they are artists. It’s the way we were taught to think. Artists are just creatives who make stuff,’” says Ms. Haskins. The session is designed to encourage participants to tap into their creativity and explore a new understanding of themselves. “Think for yourself, be your natural self, whatever the situation,” Ms. Haskins reminds us, “You never know who you will meet and what you will learn along the way.”

Free but pre-registration is required. Please only sign up if you plan to attend, seating is very limited.

ABOUT FRANCINE HASKINS – MULTIMEDIA FIBER ARTIST, BOOK ILLUSTRATOR, DOLL MAKER & ART EDUCATOR

Francine Haskins, “the doll lady” is the linchpin of this exhibition. Her relationship with many of the artists in this exhibition date back decades. She is among the original members of 1800 Belmont Arts, one of the important Black arts collectives during the Golden Age of Black Arts.   Ms. Haskins’ mixed media dolls and quilts and children’s books “I Remember 121” and “Things I Like About Grandma” are cherished by collectors such as Johnetta Coles and Maya Angelou.  She is a resident artist at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her work is available at the NMAAHC gift shop and is now part of the Library of Congress’ Center for the Books Collection.

In 2020 she exhibited in “Birth of 2020 Visions” at Robert Blackburn Printing Workshop Program on West 39th Street in New York City as part of a collective of senior Black artists responding to the pandemic, and the relentless murders of Black People through art.  Ms. Haskins has taught doll making for both youth and seniors.  Francine Haskins,The Center for the Books Library of Congress – www.centerforthebooks.org, Francine Haskins, www.Digdc.diclibrary.org, Nine Artist Nine Months Nine Perspectives, www.rbpmw.efanyc.org

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION – The exhibition conceived and curated by Camila Bryce-Laporte, (a noted doll maker herself) in partnership with scholar Dr. Phyllis M. May-Machunda, includes dolls and puppets created by a national group of 26 multi-media artists reflective of the African Diaspora of the Americas who came of age in communities in the United States during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Using mix media, these visual story tellers chronicle the history, identity, and culture of their communities. Compelled or “called” to continue the special and enduring tradition of Black doll making these artists recognize that their works are healing and transformative for themselves and for the communities they represent.