Making Meaning

Alice's practice is deeply embedded in land and place. She makes with found and natural materials using textile processes and others drawn from basketry and bookmaking. Alice and I met some years ago through exhibiting in the same places and having a shared understanding of making a living as an artist and in particular, writing books about our work. Alice is well-known in textiles for her book Natural Processes in Textile Art and her new book Wild Textiles comes out this September. In this podcast we talk about her journey to the materials and engagement with the land which guides her work and the many complexities of being a working professional artist who wears many hats. We share having textiles as a second career too and talk about the many positive aspects of this in the work we do now. This is a great conversation full of stories and details about Alice's life and work. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

Textiles in Lockdown was a wonderful project I worked on in 2020. Gawthorpe Textiles Collection commissioned me to research textile making practice during the 2020 lockdowns and to create a digital resource for their museum collection. I chose to make a podcast and ebook for them, sharing your stories of stitching and sewing during the first few months of the pandemic. It was such a wonderful project for me and I know it meant a lot to so many to have their work and story captured in this podcast and ebook. In this episode I introduce the podcast and afterwards talk to Gawthorpe Textiles Collection Director Charlotte Steels about the project and its impact. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

I truly believe that connection and community are vital to creativity. It's hard to be making work on your own without conversations, feedback and inspiration from others. I created Maker Membership, my online community, during the pandemic to bring makers together to share, talk and be inspired. This podcast episode is based around one of our Membership Live group sessions with three long-standing members Alison Foster, Cheryl Hewitt and Lucie Bea Dutton discussing their work, development and the support they receive from Maker Membership. I run Maker Membership through Podia which is an online school platform. If you are thinking of creating an online workshop website or similar online community through podia, please use my affiliate link below to sign up. Thank you! https://www.podia.com/?via=ruth-singer

Wellbeing through stitch and communal creative practice runs through Claire's practice, writing and projects. She's just completed a PhD exploring this subject in depth and we both love talking about the importance of community making practice, about textile and local heritage and about the power of textiles to change lives in all kinds of subtle ways. This conversation ranges across all these areas of interest and we talk about how our work in communities is so important yet so often overlooked in the wider art world. I was honoured to be included in Claire's recent book Resilient Stitch and I'm also grateful to her for sharing her thoughts on textiles and community making for Textiles in Lockdown podcast which I made in 2020 with Gawthorpe Textiles Collection. That's coming out on this podcast very soon so you can catch up with it right here. Claire has just relaunched her incredibly popular online teaching sessions. Links to all of these are atruthsinger.com/podcast

I've been enormously lucky over the last 10 years or so to work with Louise at Llantarnam Grange on both group and solo exhibitions. In this conversation we talk about how she creates and curates exhibitions, finds artists to work with and shares stories through craft. We also talk about the importance of the artist-curator relationship, about my work with her and the gallery, and how important exhibitions are for both artist and visitor. This was recorded in person at the gallery in March 2022.

Sharon's work really fascinates me. Her objects tell intriguing stories of the landscape she is rooted in and allow for contemplation and imagination of the viewer too. Sharon and I have had such interesting conversations about place, belonging, boundaries and landscape containers, it was a pleasure to talk to her more about her work in this podcast. Sharon also supports artists through 1:1 coaching. www.ruthsinger.com/podcast

It's great to be back with a new series of Making Meaning. In this episode I'm talking to artist Helen Hallows about living a creative life with a deep connection with nature, about the challenges and joys of being a professional artists and about what it means to be embodying her philosophy of nurturing creativity within our lives. Find out more: https://ruthsinger.com/podcast/

This is just a quickie, a tiny unscripted mini pod to remind you that the Crowdfunder closes this weekend Sunday 12th December and that your contribution will be very much appreciated! There's also a little bonus at the end with some reflection questions for you to ponder in relation to your own making with meaning. Links from the episode: Podcast: ruthsinger.com/podcast Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/making-meaning-podcast-series-two Email list: https://ruthsinger.com/studio-stories-email-sign-up/ Gentle Goal Setting: https://ruthsinger.podia.com/gentle-goal-setting-course

This end of series episode of Making Meaning is just me. I wanted to reflect on the series, to share my thoughts and feelings about the amazing conversations I've had. I also wanted to add a bit more context about my own work and share more about myself and some of the projects I have worked on in the past, present and future. The themes that come up again and again in this series are about connection and collaboration, about the creative impulse and the value of our ideas, about research, about materials and making and about change, movement and belonging. I also introduce some ideas for the new series of Making Meaning, including a live event and longer, even more in-depth conversations. To make this possible, I am still crowdfunding so please contribute if you can here. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

In this final conversation of the series, Ruth is talking to museum consultant Emma King. Ruth & Emma were at University studying for a Masters Degree in Museum Studies. In this episode they talk about making meaning in museums, about what museums are for, about ideas and their value and about how to spark and nuture them. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast We are raising money for the next series of Making Meaning. Please contribute if you can here

La escritora y artista visual Melissa Melero-Moose habla sobre el fomento de la creatividad durante la pandemia en la colonia india de Reno-Sparks en Hungry Valley, NV. Eric Hemenway, Director del Departamento de Repatriación, Archivos y Registros de Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, explica cómo la narración puede descubrir tergiversaciones sobre las comunidades nativas.Explore la obra de Melissa Melero-Moose, lea su ensayo, de Nevada Humanities y obtenga más información sobre los Great Basin Native Artists. Obtenga más información sobre Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.Obtenga más información sobre el tema de este episodio y de los invitados en https://www.statehumanities.org/.

Danyetta Najoli, cofundadora de The Black American Tree Project, explica cómo el diseño del proyecto de narración inmersiva evoca un sentido de reconocimiento de los orígenes de la esclavitud. El Dr. Jack Tchen, Profesor inaugural de Clement A. Price en Historia Pública y Humanidades y Director del Price Institute en la Universidad de Rutgers, profundiza en las historias de despojo.Obtenga más información sobre The Black American Tree Project y Ohio Humanities, que apoyó el proyecto mediante una subvención.Explore el proyecto de historia pública del Dr. Jack Tchen, Dismantling Eugenics, mire su entrevista NYU Skirball “Paradigm Shifter” interview, y sumérjase en “Hacking the University: Reckoning with Racial Equity, Climate Justice, and Global Warming".Obtenga más información sobre el tema de este episodio y de los invitados en https://www.statehumanities.org/.

Jenny De Groot, bibliotecaria infantil de la isla de Orcas, en el noroeste del Pacífico, lee algunos de sus libros favoritos y comparte cómo su remota comunidad encontró formas de conectarse durante la pandemia. Chuck Fluharty, fundador, Presidente y Director general del Instituto de Investigación de Políticas Rurales (RUPRI), explora el futuro de las comunidades rurales y urbanas a través de una lente pública humanista.Obtenga más información sobre el programa de Humanities Washington Prime Time Family Reading que organizó la biblioteca de Jenny De Groot.Obtenga más información sobre la RUPRI y eche un vistazo a su Comprehensive Rural Wealth Framework.Obtenga más información sobre el tema de este episodio y de los invitados  en https://www.statehumanities.org/.

Adrienne Kennedy, activista climática y organizadora del sur de Lumberton (Carolina del Norte), habla de lo que significa para ella la justicia medioambiental después de que el huracán Matthew destruyera su casa. El Dr. Joseph Campana, director del Centro de Estudios Medioambientales de la Universidad de Rice, explora las formas en que las humanidades pueden ayudarnos a elaborar los patrones inexorables de la catástrofe climática.Obtenga más información sobre cómo apoyar la ayuda y la recuperación de la catástrofe en Lumberton y mire Robeson Rises; una película con la actuación de Adrienne Kennedy. Más información sobre la iniciativa de Humanidades de Carolina del Norte Watershed Moments que proyectó la película como parte de una serie de debates itinerantes.Obtenga más información sobre el Center for Environmental Studies, el proyecto Investing in Futures y el trabajo del Dr. Joseph Campana sobre la relación entre las humanidades y el medio ambiente.Obtenga más información sobre el tema de este episodio y de los invitados en https://www.statehumanities.org/.

Carol Ann Carl, narradora de la isla de Pohnpei, en los Estados Federados de Micronesia, habla de cómo utiliza la poesía para apoyar a las comunidades históricamente marginadas; y Natasha Trethewey, dos veces premiada con el US Poet, describe cómo la poesía puede articular actos de compromiso cívico.Explore la obra de Carol Ann Carl y conozca el Why it Matters Poetry Workshop con el que dio clases a través del Consejo Hawaiano para las Humanidades. Obtenga más información sobre Natasha Tretheway en su página webObtenga más información sobre el tema de este episodio y de los invitados en en https://www.statehumanities.org/. 

El poeta, escritor y médico Dr. Rafael Campo lee su poema "The Doctor's Song" y habla del poder curativo de las humanidades. La Dra. Gioia Woods, profesora del Departamento de Estudios Culturales Comparativos de la Universidad del Norte de Arizona, comparte el Proyecto historias de la pandemia; un programa de lectura, debate e historia oral que creó para documentar el impacto de la COVID-19 en su comunidad rural.Conozca más sobre el trabajo y la poesía del Dr. Rafael Campo en su página web, vea su charla TEDx y lea la Poetry Section que edita en el Journal of the American Medical Association (en español, Revista de la Asociación Médica Estadounidense).Explore el Pandemic Stories Project y el Plague Virtual Book Club, apoyados por una subvención de Arizona Humanities, y obtenga más información sobre el trabajo y el reciente libro de la Dra. Gioia Wood, Left in the West: Literature, Culture, and Progressive Politics in the American West.Obtenga más información sobre el tema de este episodio y de los invitados en https://www.statehumanities.org/.

Writer and visual artist Melissa Melero-Moose talks about fostering creativity during the pandemic on the Reno-Sparks Indian colony in Hungry Valley, NV. Eric Hemenway, director of the Department of Repatriation, Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, explains how storytelling can uncover misrepresentations about Native communities.Explore Melissa Melero-Moose's work, read her Nevada Humanities essay, and find out more about the Great Basin Native Artists. Learn more about the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.Read more about this episode's topic and guests at our website.

L. Danyetta Najoli, co-founder of The Black American Tree Project, explains how the project's immersive story-telling design evokes a sense of reckoning with slavery's origins. Dr. Jack Tchen, the Inaugural Clement A. Price Professor of Public History and the Humanities and Director of the Price Institute at Rutgers University, takes a deep dive into histories of dispossession.Learn more about The Black American Tree Project and Ohio Humanities, which supported the project through a grant.Explore Dr. Jack Tchen's public history project, Dismantling Eugenics, watch his NYU Skirball “Paradigm Shifter” interview, and take a dive into “Hacking the University: Reckoning with Racial Equity, Climate Justice, and Global Warming.”Read more about this episode's topic and guests at our website.

Jenny De Groot, a children's librarian on Orcas Island in the Pacific Northwest, reads some of her favorite books while sharing how her remote community found ways to connect during the pandemic. Dr. Chuck Fluharty, founder, President, and CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI), explores the future of rural and urban communities through a public humanities lens.Learn about the Humanities Washington Prime Time Family Reading program that Jenny De Groot's library hosted. Find out more about RUPRI and take a look at its Comprehensive Rural Wealth Framework.Read more about this episode's topic and guests at our website.

Adrienne Kennedy, a climate activist and organizer from south Lumberton, North Carolina, talks about what environmental justice looks like for her after Hurricane Matthew destroyed her home. Dr. Joseph Campana, director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Rice University, explores ways the humanities can help us process relentless patterns of climate catastrophe.Find out how to support disaster relief and recovery in Lumberton and watch Robeson Rises, the film featuring Adrienne Kennedy's story. Read more about the North Carolina Humanities Watershed Moments initiative that screened the film as part of a touring discussion series.Learn more about the Center for Environmental Studies, the Investing in Futures project, and Dr. Joseph Campana's work on the relationship between the humanities and the environment.Read more about this episode's topic and guests at our website.

Carol Ann Carl, a storyteller from Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia, talks about how she uses poetry to advocate for historically marginalized communities, and two-term US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey describes how poetry can articulate acts of civic engagement.Explore Carol Ann Carl's work and learn about the Why it Matters Poetry Workshop she led through the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities. Learn more about Natasha Tretheway on her website.Read more about this episode's topic and guests at our website.

Poet, writer, and physician Dr. Rafael Campo reads his poem “The Doctor's Song” and talks about the healing power of the humanities. Dr. Gioia Woods, a professor in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at Northern Arizona University, shares The Pandemic Stories Project, a reading, discussion, and oral history program she created to document the impact of COVID-19 in her rural community.Learn more about Dr. Campo's work and poetry on his website, watch his TEDx talk, and read the Poetry Section he edits at the Journal of the American Medical Association.Explore the Pandemic Stories Project and Plague Virtual Book Club, and read more about Dr. Woods' work and recent book, Left in the West: Literature, Culture, and Progressive Politics in the American West.Read more about this episode's topic and guests at our website.

This week Ruth is talking to Paula Briggs, a ceramic artist focussing on narrative in craft. This conversation grew from a previous interview for Paula's Masters Degree in ceramics where she asked Ruth about research-based work, making a living from non-commercial making and communicating the stories behind the work. In this podcast they talk about all of this and more including the importance of making skills in industry and the absorbing and powerful nature of research in making. Podcast Series Two Crowdfunder is now open, please contribute if you can: ruthsinger.com/podcast

Desde que estalló la pandemia en 2020, tanto ha cambiado. Pero hemos encontrado formas de avanzar con fuerza y ​​juntos, de conectarnos y compartir historias; este es el trabajo de las humanidades. Making Meaning es un podcast de la Federación de Consejos Estatales de Humanidades. En esta serie, la anfitriona Sydney Boyd comparte historias de los consejos y líderes de humanidades sobre el papel que las humanidades han jugado durante la pandemia y en la recuperación.Para más información, visita http://statehumanities.org

Since the pandemic struck in 2020, we've all been through a lot, but we've found ways to move forward in strength and community, to connect and tell stories—this is the work of the humanities. Making Meaning is a podcast from the Federation of State Humanities Councils that shares that work. In this series, host Sydney Boyd hears stories from our nation's humanities councils and leaders across the greater United States about the role the humanities have played during the pandemic and are playing in our recovery.For more information, visit us at  https://www.statehumanities.org. 

In this episode Ruth talks to textile artist Ekta Kaul about her soulful stitch work, about belonging and place making about about the richness of textile making to improve our lives. Ekta is a London-based artist who grew up in India. In this conversation she shares how her map-making stitch practice has helped grounding her in a new country. They share their stories of finding their place in the textile world over the last dozen or more years and talk about how powerful it is to stitch and create alongside communities, be they our own membership groups or with diverse community groups and workshops. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast Ekta's website Ruth's Maker Membership Support the podcast using Paypal  

Melody Vaughan, coach and mentor to makers started her working life in the museum sector, just like Ruth did. In this conversation, they discuss how museum training has impacted their work with and as makers. They talk about the importance of understanding how things are made, how makers have so much knowledge that museums could be tapping into better and how objects have long lives that we often don't think about. Both Ruth and Melody support other makers through mentoring and courses and they talk about what they want to uncover from their clients is the stories behind the making, the why. There are links to Melody's work and some of the things they talked about at ruthsinger.com/podcast

This conversation between textile artists Ruth Singer & Cas Holmes is full of fascinating insights into the thoughtful making processes they share. Cas and Ruth talk about migration and cultural heritage, about responding to old but meaningful cloth and other objects and about the loss of talking to other people, sparking ideas and sharing textile making in communal spaces through the pandemic. Cas talks movingly about the impact of little conversations, asides and responses and how all that feeds into her work which she creates with delicacy and thoughtfulness. She talks about the losses we have all felt through the pandemic and how it has created more understanding of those who have been displaced and constrained by incredibly difficult circumstances. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

Kathryn is an artist maker specialising in miniature works celebrating nature. Kathryn's approach is research-based and multi-faceted - from a Herbarium of Stories made from leaves and sunlight, to wildflower shoes sculpted in sugar, she creates intricate artworks that weave together tales of nature, place and people. She is currently Artist in Residence at Langdyke Countryside Trust in Cambridgeshire, England. In this conversation we talk about following your inspiration, exploring and sharing stories, working with museums and enjoying the infinite pleasures of both creativity and the natural world. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

In this episode Ruth talks to artist Richard McVetis about his meticulous embroidery work and the complexities and joys of being an artist. Richard makes work for exhibitions and commissions and shares his unique style of stitch and the meditative process behind it through workshops. In the 10 years or so since I first came across Richard's work, he's exhibited widely including the Crafts Council's Collect Open in 2017, and he's got a solo exhibition coming up in 2022. In this conversation we talk about research and our methods for gathering ideas, what inspires us and how place and family heritage are so important. Richard talks about never not being an artist which rings so true for me, and about being curious and always exploring ideas. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

Artists Ruth Singer and Caren Garfen in conversation about the meanings behind their work. Both Ruth and Caren work in textiles and have a strong association with working with objects and they talk about using textiles to tell personal and challenging stories. Caren has created work about eating disorders previously and she talks at length in this episode about her work sharing historic and contemporary stories of anti-Semitism. They also share their experiences of slow creative processes, taking time to develop and share their ideas and how connecting with and engaging with other artists is so important to understanding their own work. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast

Ruth talks to fine artist Gillian McFarland. Ruth & Gillian have collaborated for a number of years on art-science and other conceptual projects. In this episode, Gillian talks about the meanings and thought processes behind her work and why she chooses to collaborate with other artists. For more information visit: ruthsinger.com

Artist Ruth Singer introduces her new podcast Making Meaning. She explains how she loves talking to other artists and creative people about what they do and why and how important it is to her to connect and converse during these isolated times. Ruth also shares some information about who she is going to talk to through this series and about how this podcast is conversations not formal interviews. She then introduces the first guest for the next episode. Ruth also talks about the mentoring programmes she offers and other ways to keep in touch. For more information visit: ruthsinger.com