Continuing Textile Traditions: Encouraging Children through Literature
March 20, 2025
We in WARP talk a lot about the importance of passing artisan traditions on from one generation to the next, and at the same time the difficulty of doing so in this new social-media infused world. Our speakers today have all written books for and/or about children that aim to help bridge the gap, each from a very different perspective: Marilyn Anderson drew a coloring book to remind Mayan children of their own traditional arts and crafts which seem to be threatened with extinction; Ginny Merritt writes children’s stories that are aimed at Christian audiences that include important context, such as a family growing flax and weaving linen cloth 3600 years ago; and Elizabeth Seward has spent her professional life teaching knitting and other fiber arts through stories and here talks about the immense benefits for the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of children. If you have not given much thought to the importance of children’s literature before, come and see it in a way that just might give you new ideas for how you can help the passing on of those valuable traditions.
Panelists:
Marilyn Anderson is an artist/photographer, textile researcher, and human rights activist. Born in Oregon, she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and obtained her BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has produced several books: Backstrap Weaving, Guatemalan Textiles Today, Granddaughters of Corn with co-author Jonathan Garlock, and her latest book, the bilingual English/Spanish Guardians of the Arts illustrated with her relief prints. She has also produced several educational coloring books showing many artisans and their production with captions to her drawings in nine Mayan languages. Since the 1970s Anderson has used her skills as an artist and researcher to present to the world the history and importance of artisan hand work and how it has shaped us and others around us.
Ginny Merritt lives in an old house with a big garden in Clyde, NY, a little town on the Erie Canal between Rochester and Syracuse. She lives with her husband, Ray, a kind, careful craftsman and retired pastor. Their dog, Tobias, keeps them walking; the frogs in their pond keep them laughing; and their aged cat, Ranger, kept them wondering how the feline brain works until he moved on to the next of his nine lives. Ginny has published four books: A Ram for Isaac, The Window in the Wall, Ed’s Christmas Miracle, and Mending the Tailor.
Elizabeth Seward has been teaching traditional fiber arts (principally knitting) to all ages, mostly in Waldorf-oriented settings, for around 45 years. She holds a doctorate in the Foundations of Education, and a Master’s in Education and Spirituality. Elizabeth authored Teaching Through Stories: Jane and Jeremy Learn to Knit to share an easy, effective, and enjoyable way to teach knitting (and other fiber crafts) through stories, available as an e-book: Teaching Through Stories by Elizabeth Seward | The FriesenPress Bookstore. At the onset of the pandemic, she founded and continues to direct the 100% online Waldorf Handwork Educators programs (www.WaldorfHandwork.org ), an affordable and accessible way to train teachers around the world to bring basic fiber arts skills to children everywhere, as well as offer basic skills classes to adults.
