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Throughout history, women have used craft to express themselves, to connect with others, and even to resist social and political oppression. Many of these goals align closely with the practices of art therapists who intend for their work to be emancipatory, yet craftivism (the intersection of craft and activism) hasn't been studied by art therapists until recently. Craft has therapeutic properties related to materials and methods, how it builds community through participation, and how it has been used to resist social and political oppression. Additionally, activism itself may assist individuals therapeutically in promoting emancipatory processes for individual and community growth, and allowing participants to address issues they identify from within the environments in which those issues take place. The presenter will provide an example of craft activism in an art therapy context by describing a participatory action research project she facilitated to identify the therapeutic impacts when art therapy participants used craftivism to name, explore, and address the issues of gentrification and displacement impacting their community. This project used arts-based research that took physical form through the creation of a collaborative quilt and yielded emergent impacts on individual, group, and community levels that can inform art therapy practice.

"Since their ancestors arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand and discovered the useful properties of harakeke (New Zealand flax), Māori have used flax leaves to create baskets, mats, housing materials, clothing and cords, ropes and fishing nets. In weaving and the patterns used, Māori record their histories and stories, passing on their culture, genealogy, values and beliefs, weaving together people and communities"--Publisher information

Abstract
This article asserts the significance of the portrayal of the political art of statesmanship as weaving, and aims to show how this image emphasizes two main aspects of the political art of statesmanship. Firstly, the image implies a three-dimensionality, both through the process of weaving and through the thickness of the protective fabric this produces, that in turn indicates the vital aspect of corporeality in politics. Secondly, weaving as a paradigmatic example of the art of statesmanship presents a way of incorporating different entities and joining diverse threads into a cohesive unity, without reducing them to a form of sameness as mere mathematical counting would. These two aspects are in turn connected to an emphasis on the importance in good statesmanship of recognizing the specificity of the occasion (kairos) and the variety and difference of the innumerable qualities to be interlaced in weaving the fabric of a good society.

Looking back in history, it is hard to pinpoint exactly when and why people engaged in the arts. We know that cavemen used it to record and represent objects around them, but also that over time the arts came to be appreciated as a reflection of the skills and creative genius of their creators. The arts has also been used by governments to reflect the views of the state.

Situating Plato's dialectical politics in contemporary debates -- Penelope's dialectical weavings in Homer's Odyssey -- Homespun statesmanship and political peace in Aristophanes' Lysistrata -- The unraveling of philosophy and political life in Plato's Statesman -- The Socratic interweaving of philosophy and politics in Plato's Phaedo.

People interpret and categorize visual cues not only to create a concept of an identity. We assume who a person is, and what their personality is like, based on these visual cues that are in turn plagued with established norms and biases that can connect or divide. Cultural norms, such as gender, sexuality, race, or political standing can be further expressed visually through textile patterns, motifs, and color. Even so, the many cultural signifiers serve only as clues to a person's identity that encompasses many different cultural aspects, despite common practice to relate to only one. Through my textile statues, which mix different patterns, colors and motifs found in fabrics, I convey the multicultural nature all people share. In this paper I explain my concepts of textiles as representing identity as being multicultural, creation of the textile statues, artistic influences, and a reflection on the final thesis exhibit.