On Fri, 10 Jan 1997, Kathryn Church wrote:

> ...I grew up in a small town in central Alberta, Canada.  Throughout my
childhood, my
> mother supplemented the family income by working as a seamstress; she had a
> small but thriving 'cottage" business which she ran from the basement of our
> home.  She kept track of her sewing projects on the empty pages of scribblers
> which her children (me; my three brothers) brought home from school.  She drew
> sketches of the patterns she was using, recorded her clients' measurements and
> pinned fabric swatches to the pages.  In this way, she documented thrity years of
> her worklife.
>
> I left home more than twenty years ago and now work as a sociologist in Toronto;
> one of my areas of specialty is community economic development.  Haunted by my
> mother's business scribblers, I have begun to mobilize a project around the 30
> wedding dresses which are part of her collection.  I am organizing a one woman
> show of my mother's work with this particular "genre" which will feed into a broader
> piece of reserach on gender/feminity.  I have located the women whose dresses
> were sewn by my mother and, in a few weeks, will interview them about the
> creation and meaning of the dresses.  I will also interview my mother and
> interrogate my own childhood memories.
>
> I will also be collecting photographs and newspaper clippings which describe the
> weddings themselves.  I envision an exhibition (and subsequently a book) which
> would include all of these materials surrounded/contrasted by text from the
> itnerviews and other literature which I may want to include.
>
> I have had discussions with a museum network in Alberta about mounting the
> exhibition.  Meanwhile I could use advice (as I am a novice) about getting this
> together and keeping it on track.  Can people direct me to written (or other)
> references which would help me out?  Or people I should talk to?  Any words of
> wisdom?

    Ms. Church, you obviously are on the right track, and well along
toward your goal. It's apparent you have a clear understanding of the
meaning and significance of the project even though it is intensely
personal. I hesitate to offer advice to one who so obviously already has
thought out her subject, but here goes:

    Listen to your heart for your perceptions, but stand outside yourself
(and your family circle) when making choices. And avoid adjectives and
adverbs.


     Hank Burchard * <[log in to unmask]> * Washington DC | USA