Get knitting to strengthen community

AN upcoming community art project will see vibrant colour and texture throughout the Bridge Mall when it’s yarn-bombed for the Ballarat Winter Festival.

Germaine Davey, general manager of The Bridge, said the initiative is designed to emphasise that the shopping centre is a space belonging to the community.

“Art is a good way of coming together as a community, we want to engage as many community members in this project as possible,” she said.

“The Bridge Mall traders work really hard on these projects, so this is a nice way of us coming together with the public in a more direct way.

“There’s a long-term benefit underpinning this; the more you engage community, the stronger it is.”

The Bridge is encouraging people to donate any unused or unneeded wool they might have around their workplace, home or club.

If anyone would like to crochet small ‘granny squares,’ The Bridge will accept them for their traders’ installations.

But they’re inviting individuals, community groups and schools to register, to put together their own collaborative installation.

“So far, we have a whole plethora of people who have signed up on behalf of groups or charities. It’s really exciting,” Ms Davey said.

“We’ll start installing from the 16th of June. It’s a very interactive experience. As our registrations come through, we’ll talk to people about what they want to build and where they want that to be.

“We’re going to offer knitting classes by one of our Bridge Mall artists as well.”

An official Yarn-Bombing @ The Bridge event will be held on Saturday, 10 July. A Woolly Waggers dog fashion parade showcasing knitted canine outfits will be part of the fun, with prizes up for grabs.

Register for the project via bit.ly/31ICga2.