Reading+Crafting Circle Series

Calling all AE+SJ Book Club Members and Crafters! 

Join us for our new Reading + Crafting Circle series. This season, we are trying something new - combining our regular book club conversation-centered meetings with a hands-on, art-making workshop. Book club members may bring their handmade art project to work on or create a new craft project altogether. Regardless of your skill level, you are invited to get creative, both with your thinking and making, and what better way to get crafty, but in community. 

Past Reading + Crafting Circle: 

 July 26, 2025, Art Space HP, Huntington Park, CA:

Join us for this in-person book club meeting focused on casual and couture fashion as a form of resistance. As part of the Reading + Crafting Circle series, this meeting invites book club members to contribute to conversation about the historic and contemporary clothing choices with a socially-conscious style and unapologetically political perspective. In the spirit of self-expression, we will be also be designing and printing on fabric to create our own wearable art. 

Art and printmaking experience is not required to participate in the print on textile workshop, but we encourage you to get creative. Book Club members are invited to bring printmaking and/or fiber arts tools and supplies (i.e. fabric, printing ink, scissors, artist apron, etc.) to design and create their own printed fashion-forward wearable artwork and/or share among our crafting community. 

April 26, 2025, Art Space HP, Huntington Park, CA:

You are invited to this special book club meeting that weaves together contemporary readings about the intersections of craft and political resistance, while participating in our very own crafting circle. 

No art experience is required to participate, but we encourage you to get creative. Bring a hand-made project you are working on, contribute to our community art supplies collection (pencils, paper, glue, yarn, etc.), or just join us to chat about craftivism! 

Community Agreements: Values + Conversation Guidelines

All bookclub members attending our meetings commit to reviewing and abiding by our Art Education + Social Justice Book Club Values and Community + Conversation Guidelines (see below). 

Values:

• Love + Learning: Loving-kindness and compassion are at the root of teaching and learning. We lead with love and compassion. We cultivate and communicate this love and respect through our thoughts, language, actions and creative-making.

• Growth + Transformation: Intentionally allot the time, space, energy and labor to nurturing personal, communal and creative transformation. Change and growth are challenging, powerful and continuous. 

• Thoughtfulness + Criticality: Practicing critical and creative thinking with themes, ideas, and questions related to the readings, writings and relevant resources. We are open to reflecting and respectfully responding to our process of learning, unlearning, and/or relearning. 

• Inclusion + Intersectionality: Being our most authentic self while being in community. Reflecting on our lived experiences, honoring intersectional identity, and examining our positions of power, privileges and biases. Practicing inclusive language and understanding that language evolves, just like we do. 

• Community + Interconnectedness: We are connected to each other, our collective histories, and our ancestors. Interweaving socio-cultural consciousness, intergenerational awareness and global perspectives helps us to understand our positionality, roles, responsibilities and leadership, especially within the complexities and continuum of histories and art histories. 

Community + Conversation Guidelines:

1. Be Present. 

2. Communicate Respectfully. 

3. Listen + Be Heard. 

4. Take Space + Make Space.

5. Support + Be Supported. 

Questions? Send meeting-related questions, suggestions, + inspirations to aesjbookclub@gmail.com. 

Art Education + Social Justice Book Club Rights Reserved. 2016. Art Credit: Jane Mount.