The Arc Westchester, NY

This week's episode features several interviews conducted at the Arc Westchester, the largest agency in Westchester County supporting children, teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including individuals on the autism spectrum, and their families. Special guests include Nancy Patota, Executive Director of the Arc Westchester Foundation, Teresa Lombardi, Yulia Daniels, Cynthia Ferguson and Maria Robinson. All interviews were recorded on January 30-31 at the Arc Westchester in Hawthorne, New York.

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Sewing Community is part of ArtsWestchester's Folk Arts Program, made possible in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.   

Transcript

[1:34] 

My name is Nancy Patota and I am the Executive Director of The Arc Westchester Foundation. I live in Rye, New York  but I am really a native Westchester person. I was born in White Plains. I lived in New Rochelle and now I’ve been in Rye for about fifteen years. I am one of eight daughters…number five, actually. And our grandmother who lived with us for about twenty-five years after the babies were born and my mom could use some help with all these kids…she was a seamstress. Actually, her family were upholsterers but she really refined her craft and was able to sew lots of clothes and stuff for us as kids. Which of course, you can imagine, was very helpful for my mother trying to clothe and feed eight kids, is always a challenge.  My grandmother was a bit of a perfectionist. W  e would go to the store where you used to be able to buy patterns and we would pick a pattern for a dress or a top and bottom. Something that was fashionable at the time. We would be so excited to get home and get started on it. But then of course the lesson would start. “Lay it this way.” “You have to cut against the nap.” “With the nap.” ”You need to do facing.” And of course we would quickly get frustrated and anxious and we’d of course say “ok granny, you do it.” And then of course she would do a beautiful job, but it definitely hindered us from learning exactly the way to do some of this really high quality sewing. But my mother, who was also quite adept at sewing, she really enjoyed crocheting. And I remember as a little kid, learning how to crochet from my mother. And to this day I am still crocheting. I just became a grandmother for the first time and what did I do first but crochet a blanket, a hat, and little booties for the baby boy. Because that is what my mother would do if she were still around. To me it is a family legacy that I can pass down and make this beautiful crochet piece for them. And one of the things that I realized the other day…because I also made a blanket for a woman who works with me who is recovering from an injury…Very often I’ll go out and buy yarn. I don’t necessarily have a person or a project in mind…I just like the yarn, or it was on sale or whatever. And I’ll get started on a blanket and before I finish it, a recipient always shows him or herself. That is one of the most beautiful things about it. As I was crocheting it, I realized she was coming back to work after being out for a couple of weeks, and I said that is who is going to get this blanket. And I brought it in on the first day that she was back and it brought tears to her eyes and she told me the other day that she cant wait to get onto the couch at night and put this cozy blanket on. I always say “it is wrapping you in love, because every one of those stitches is love.” That is the power of doing things with your hands…it brings you back to where you came from and the people that taught you to be who you are today.

So I look at this and I say to myself Granny would be in heaven in this room today.  Although, she was a bit of a perfectionist…so, you know, we are giving folks in that room a little bit more of a free-for-all to design and be creative. The seams don’t have to be perfect. The colors don’t have to exactly match. It’s all about diversity and inclusion, which is really what we are all about as well.  

Everybody who is in there has a hand in the project. Everybody is contributing in their own way. And everybody looks at the fabric in a different way. I am looking at a particular fabric and I could be seeing it completely differently than somebody else. But that is ok because it’s all basically coming together…all different perspectives…all different levels of creativity…sewing skills, or no sewing skills…it doesn’t matter, it is all coming together. It's going to be absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to step back and say “look at what we accomplished! There is my section! There is my section!”

I often say the activity is not as important as the community coming together. It is almost secondary. When we create activities, all it is, is really an opportunity to bring people from the outer community into our environment and create connections. It gives them something to do while getting to know each other. And we find that it is helpful, especially for a new volunteer, to break the ice with somebody in the program, if they are working on something together. I am a person and I have a story. I have likes and dislikes. I have family. I like this color red. I like this texture. I have shoes that are that color. I like your handbag. I mean, before you know it, the connections happen and that is a wonderful thing to take with you, after this project, out into the greater community.

[7:15]

My name is Teresa Lombardi. I am from Somers, New York. I work at Arc of Westchester and we support individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. I found out about the project that Amanda Browder and ArtsWestchester were spearheading at an evening workshop at ArtsWestchester last month. I was intrigued with her, especially when she said that it’s not just a quilt, but fabric art. That intrigued me. Every time I was trying to explain it to somebody I stopped myself from saying that it is quilting. We are making a work of fabric art. What meant a lot of to me is that I used to work in banking at 31 Mamaroneck Ave. Where this fabric art is going to be draped over is where I started my career. That building there means a lot to me. It has a lot of memories. I cannot wait to see this done. So when I attended your workshop, I thought about the individuals, the population, we serve and I thought it would be an excellent idea to open up Arc of Westchester to ArtsWestchester for you guys to come and share your love of the arts with our guys who want to learn more about the arts. The past two days have been absolutely incredible. Here at Arc, I handle recreation and coming up with different ideas to give our guys and gals a sense of purpose. Them experiencing Aaron and Amanda and the work that you guys do for the community…you guys are bringing so many people together! We have so many young men and women that now want to learn how to sew. We didn’t have that before. I’ve been here for two years and maybe one individual out of 105 has mentioned sewing. Today, I’ve probably had twenty-five. For that I thank you for bringing this to us. They also got to see how these donations of fabric were donated…dropped off. There are different stories behind all of the fabric. We have a staff from Ghana. She ran to the other side of the room because she saw a piece of fabric that reminded her of Ghana. Amanda stopped her and said “yes, a gentleman came and dropped this off who was from Ghana. He had this piece of fabric laying in the house.” It was just incredible. And then the story continued and we learned that Aaron spent some time in Ghana and we have more staff here from Ghana. It just brought everybody together, to find out more about each other and to celebrate the arts. I cannot wait for the sculpture….the fabric sculpture to go up at 31 Mamaroneck., and  for our groups to go by and look up and say “hey, I did that!” 

[10:23]

Yulia Daniels. I live in Pleasantville and I am 22. I am very interested in sewing because I started in Middle School with academics, with cooking and sewing. So…I started that…and then when I got to High School, they had a sheet saying “would you like to start costume crew?” and so me and my friends started it. I am the one who likes sewing the most and they just came along to volunteer. I did that for four years and then I signed up for sewing class…and then I did that for two years. I have my own machine. I’ve made so much stuff like tote bags, pajamas, skits…I love fashion. I love making things. It helps me to relax. It’s just a good thing. It’s a really really good skill to have. Everyone should have it. 

My grandpa’s wife did sewing for stuffed animals. My parents told me about her and so I said “ok.” That’s how I got inspired…by my grandma. And so, I started from there. 

I think it positive that everyone is volunteering. Everyone is working together. That people are learning to do things…to have their hands on all together. To make something huge for the town. I think it [sewing] is important because people don’t have what you have and making things for others will inspire them. You see homeless people and you want to make clothes or blankets for them. I don’t need to make something for myself but I need to make for others, to make them happy.  

[12:07]

Cynthia Ferguson. And I now live in Ossining, New York. I won a sewing machine at the 1964 World’s Fair and when I went to pick it up, I had to buy the cabinet. However, I then got married and decided to learn, through ArtsWestchester, how to sew. I made maternity clothes. And when the children came along I started sewing for them because I have a daughter who is dwarfed. And she was toilet trained, and did not need to wear snap crotch clothing but was in that size, and I wanted her to look more her age. And it’s gone on from there. So I learned to so sew for her. And then I sewed for my two sons. I sewed coats, hats, suits…I can’t tell you all the stuff. Strictly pattern. I don’t have the [world’s fair] machine anymore because I gave it to my daughter-in-law. She wanted to get one so I said, “good, take it, I’m not using it. 

[13:13]

My name is Maria Robinson, and I live in Harrison, NY. My interest [in sewing] came, because growing up, really loving certain characters and wanting to be them. So I wanted to learn how to make it…so I could be like “I’m proud to be this character because I made it.” The reason I wanted to learn to sew, because to be able to see fabric in a pile…to go from that into clothing that fits…and seeing how you can be so creative with different projects…To someone it might be ugly fabric but you can make something so beautiful out of it.