Monday, October 15, 2012

Fighting Illiteracy


 
Fighting Illiteracy.  Stitched words: Learn to Read at Any Age; I teach; I learn; We did it! So can you! Xylene photo transfer on tea-stained muslin. Hand stitched. 25" x 31" unframed; 31" x 37" framed.  Click on image to enlarge.

Judy (http://stitchalongwithme.blogspot.com) is a passionate fiber artist who has volunteered her time and generous patience since the 1980s to fighting illiteracy by helping people learn to read. Sure...Judy is an advocate for reading to and teaching children. Yet, she doesn't stop there. She tirelessly teaches adults too.

It takes a lot of courage to admit an inability to read. It takes a brave, mature adult to seek help with literacy. It is an act of faith to trust a fiber artist to depict this choice in stitches. I am truly honored to have been given this opportunity to create this Decision Portrait.

This is a story of two equally important decisions. There's the decision to teach and the decision to learn. Together, illiteracy is fought.

Judy provided an important link to ProLiterary  (http://www.proliteracy.org/) for additional resources. She also suggested two very interesting books: The Teacher Who Couldn't Read and Life is So Good: One Man's Extraordinary Journey through the 20th Century and How He Learned to Read at Age 98.

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