The Art & Alchemy of Repair
I am excited to announce a new fieldwork project!
The Library of Congress’s Archie Green Fellowship supports new research documenting occupational folklife—the stories, skills, joys, and challenges of workers—in contemporary America. Together with my collaborator Julia Gartrell, talented artist and founder of the Radical Repair Workshop, I have been awarded a 2020-2021 fellowship for our oral history project “Fixing, Mending, Making New: North Carolina Repair Professionals.”
Between September 2020 and June 2021, we interviewed 22 repair professionals across the state with particular interest paid to urban repair economies, coastal repair industries, and the mending of Appalachian craft. Photographs, audio, and transcripts will be deposited in the occupational folklife collection in the American Folklife Center.
Featured Interviews
“You can’t find anybody who wants to do this. Everybody wants to make more than the president.”
“You need to believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If it was man made, a woman can fix it.”
“I had a drive I don’t see in anybody now. When my brother and I were coming up, you had to learn whatever the family trade was. ”
“I try to treat you like I want to be treated. I’m very hands on. I don’t care who does the work. I will put my hand on the car before it leaves.”
“If you have a good set of hands—and not everyone does—use them. It can be very satisfying. Working with your hands opens your mind.”
“If we don’t support our communities, in the grand scheme of things, what are we building?”
“I’ve always enjoyed trees. I always thought it was really interesting that the wood was kind of alive all the time. Even when it’s a table, it’s always alive, it’s expanding and contracting”