Update:
Dear Queer Crafternoon community,
With sadness and gratitude, we are announcing the end of Queer Crafternoon monthly craft events.
We will keep the non-profit active and may announce new programs or events in the future. For now, though, we will be saying goodbye.
Queer Crafternoon has run each month since February 2020. We started as a one-off event in 2019 (thanks to a Neighbourhood Small Grant) and got such strong feedback that this type of event was needed that we made it a monthly program. We have welcomed ~100-300 participants each year to learn and create everything from needle felting, embroidery, carved pumpkins, knitting, watercolour, macrame, crochet, cross stitch, painted plant pots, linocut, tie dye, and so much more.
We have also continued to learn and try to demonstrate how to make events more inclusive and accessible across queer communities that are often excluded, like for those who are disabled and chronically ill, neurodivergent, parenting, and/or are new to the city or country. There are so many connections we have made and experiences we've had that we deeply cherish. And this has been thanks to grants (primarily from CRD Arts Service and the City of Victoria), volunteers, and the ongoing support and love from our community.
When we started Crafternoon, we were eligible for youth grants. Now, we are leaving our 20s and have all taken on additional life, community, and work commitments. We are also facing a society that is de-prioritizing arts and recreation funding, particularly when it involves queer, trans, disabled, mad, and other marginalized lives. We were already struggling with the non-profit imperative to be novel and developing, rather than continue to sustain an established program. Securing funding has only gotten harder with this added sociopolitical hostility.
AND we still see so many groups doing amazing work. Our original pitch of being one of the only sober and accessible space for queer adults is no longer true. There are various queer knitting, book, pickleball, birding, running, climbing, art, etc. groups and that's thanks to all the grassroots organizing around us. As individuals, and as a group, we want to continue to support and be involved in that.
We want to end with a thank you to everyone who has been part of Queer Crafternoon. It has been a wonderful experience for us, and that's thanks to all of you.
Sincerely,
Celeste, River, and Ardeo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About (out of date now!)
Queer Crafternoon is a free drop-in art space for queer, trans, and two-spirit folks of all ages along with their friends and family to craft, create, and connect! We are under the umbrella of Monoceros Education Society, and organized by a group of queer young adults living on unceded lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ territories.
In the winter, we gather over zoom and free craft kits are available for drop-off and pick-up in Greater Victoria each month for the themed craft we host. In the summer months we meet outside in Oaklands Park and have all the supplies needed for the month’s craft as well as snacks and bus tickets. Check our event page to see our upcoming events! And if you're interested in a kit for an upcoming craft, fill out our kit request form
Get updates by signing up for our newsletter or following our Instagram account.
If there's anything we can do to make this event more accessible for you, don't hesitate to reach out. You can email us at queercrafternoon@gmail.com
These events take place on the traditional and unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. We would like to acknowledge the rich and vibrant artistic practices of the Coast Salish Nations as well as those across Turtle Island that, along with their people, have faced persecution and attempted destruction by forces of colonization both past and present. Great honour and respect to the generations that have worked to keep these traditions alive, and to all those contributing to their revitalization today. Háy̓sxʷ q̓ə siám
