Patterns of Bayview

Bayview Foundation is an affordable housing neighborhood in the heart of Madison. Their residents represent 12 different nationalities, constituting one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in this city. Over the 30 years since Bayview’s founding, the people who live and work there have found the arts to be the best way to connect people across cultures, languages, beliefs, and interests. They have thus made the arts central to their values and mission.

Patterns of Bayview is a collaboration with the residents of the neighborhood to beautify the chain link fence that runs along the property while telling the story of the residents who live there. Students who enrolled in the Community Arts Crew, Bayview’s youth employment program, worked with me to create the designs. We collected important patterns, textiles, and imagery from the elder residents of Bayview. The students then took these materials as their inspirations to create unique designs that would both stand out individually and stand together as a representation of Bayview.

Read the longer blog post about the project: https://learningtosee.jenie.org/patterns-of-passage/