The yarn bombing installation in front of City Hall.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — On Aug. 12, First Byte CEO and Fabric Artist Rosann Fleischauer installed a unique yarn bombing art display in front of City Hall.
Fleischauer began the installation at 9:30 a.m. and said a few community members and members from the Chicopee Cultural Council came to help throughout the day.
Yarn bombing, also known as guerrilla knitting, is a form of street art that involves covering objects in public spaces with colorful knitted or crocheted yarn or fiber. This combination of street art and fiber arts originated in Texas in the early to mid-2000s and has since spread worldwide.
The city hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the display that was only due to be up for a week before being displayed in another community in Western Massachusetts.
Although Fleischauer oversees the installation and yarn bombing, she said the display could not have been completed without the help of residents.
She said that some of the pieces that were displayed were from other cities or towns in Western Massachusetts and the pieces that Chicopee residents made will also continue to travel with the display.
The Chicopee Public Library did a few programs with children who wanted to make art for the display. The Chicopee Public Library, City Hall and the River Mills Center Chicopee Council on Aging also collected art donations.
“So, as different towns have done their projects, they’ve donated pieces to us to use in other towns to do yarning around Massachusetts,” Fleischauer shared.
Fleischauer talked about what she enjoys most about bringing this display across Massachusetts.
She said, “What I like to do is I like to incorporate different ideas people have in the community and then take those ideas and expand them out so that more people can enjoy them. It’s fun to be able to knit and crochet and weave but it’s also fun to be able to share it with other people and this is an opportunity for people in the community to not only do things for their own community but also for others.”
Fleischauer said more of her work can be found at firstbytedesigns.com or on other social media platforms at First Byte Designs.
Mayor John Vieau said that this project can help bring a positive message to Chicopee and help with the city’s continued efforts with showcasing more artists and their work.
“We are so excited to see this art installation go up in front of City Hall. It’s no secret that Chicopee is committed to arts and culture,” stated Vieau. “These projects are important to bringing arts and vitality to Chicopee. We are very thankful to the Cultural Council for funding such wonderful projects for Chicopee.”
This public art installation is made possible by funding from the Chicopee Cultural Council through the Mass Cultural Council.
Fleischauer also had a message for those residents who helped with the installation but also those who allowed her art to be installed in the city.
“Thank you members of the Chicopee community, I sincerely appreciate all of your effort and beautiful work that you did here and using the yarn from other parts of the commonwealth, pieces from other parts of the commonwealth to truly create a project across the entire state,” she said.
