Fashion, Volunteerism and a Great Cause: The Wearable Art Show Pt. 2

Tell us your name and the name of the project or initiative you are involved with.

Curated by Takyrah Anderson

My name is Bonnie Glass and I am with The Wearable Art Show (TWAS).

What have you most loved and appreciated about the community project/initiative that you are involved in?

The support I got and the wholehearted effort that they brought to it once I had birthed the idea while I was an artist in Glen Williams at The Williams Mill. About 90% of the people organizing it and the models were from Halton and they pitched in with everything they had including their humour. It has evolved to be an Ontario show (but now people are coming to it from outside of Ontario) but the core of people making it work are still from Halton.

The most incredible thing to me is that most of them had nothing to gain financially from doing this (it is a LOT of work) like I did if it was successful. They did it out of the goodness of their hearts! That continually blows me away.

What is your connection to the project/initiative, and why is it so important to you?

“At our first meeting, we decided the best thing we could do was to have an annual “jewel box of a show” specifically aimed at people interested in buying what we had made,”

It was my idea to start this show because of the great difficulties of being a solo wearable art maker. There are many different hats required to make a go of it financially. So, I thought it would be good to ask a group of women to support people like me as patrons. But not in terms of money (but they did it for the first show) but in terms of time. 

At our first meeting, we decided the best thing we could do was to have an annual “jewel box of a show” specifically aimed at people interested in buying what we had made. It is amazing to me that we have built an incorporated not-for-profit show that is the best wearable art show in Canada (at the present anyways) and also noted for the people behind it and their heart to help us artists. That is amazing!

“I would like to see that happen through the number of people coming through the door paying admission so that it does not have to come from the artists who aren’t in a position to do that as costs evolve,”

What is happening through the project/initiative that you would like to see more of?

We are trying to make people aware of the show in the town it is in - Oakville and the surrounding towns that are around it. We need support for that.

What would you like to see happen next for the project/initiative?

I would love to see us become totally self-sufficient financially so that we do not have to rely on grants etc. We are almost there! I would like to see that happen through the number of people coming through the door paying admission so that it does not have to come from the artists who aren’t able to do that as costs evolve.

What would you want or need from the community to make your next steps successful?

Help to get the word out about the show!

“Pride in what was achieved contributes to community spirit in my opinion,”

If all those good things happened, what could be made possible in our community that wasn’t possible before?

People would learn that they can do things as a group that they could never do on their own and so take the initiative. This was a long haul, and we had a lot of ups and downs but persevered and that has now paid off. Pride in what was achieved contributes to community spirit in my opinion.

To learn more about the Wearable Art Show, use the following link to visit their website: https://thewearableartshow.com/ 

What would happen if we celebrated what is strong in Halton?

Community Development Halton is interested in sharing the news of individuals, groups and organizations that are strength-based, working at the edges and the middle of issues of community well-being, social justice and community building in Halton.

If you are interested in sharing your story, please head to the following LINK. We are excited to hear from you!