Stories of Gender Bias: How have we experienced gender bias in our culture, families, communities, and religious affiliations?

East Hartford Public Library, East Hartford, Connecticut, November 2022, December 2022, January 2023

As part of the Threads of Assumption workshop series at the East Hartford Public Library, I had the privilege of working closely with community members to explore and express personal experiences of gender bias through collaborative art-making. Alongside fellow artists Maria Finkelmeier, Martha Rettig, and U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, we guided participants in creating individual weavings that visually represented their lived experiences with gender bias across various aspects of life, including culture, family, and community.
Supported by a grant from the Town of East Hartford, the project offered two hands-on workshops in November 2022 and February 2023, where participants shared their stories—either through conversation or written reflection—and translated these narratives into yarn weavings. These sessions not only provided a space for personal expression but also cultivated a sense of solidarity and shared understanding among attendees. The weavings, made anonymous, were later integrated into the Threads of Assumption exhibition, where they became part of a broader interactive narrative.
The exhibition, which opened in April 2023, allowed the community's work to be realized on a larger scale, combining their woven pieces with AI-analyzed interpretations of gender bias. Visitors were encouraged to engage with the project by adding their own contributions to a large-scale loom and inputting data into a digital visualization, further expanding the conversation.
With the support of the Town of East Hartford’s grant, the workshops and exhibition created a platform for participants to voice their experiences and contribute to a collective artwork that continues to evolve and resonate with all who engage with it.