This February, Ottawa’s urban landscape will be yarn-bombed by a locally based craft and music troupe, Spins and Needles, as part of citywide Winterlude festivities.
Jason Pelletier and Melanie Yugo collaborated to combine their two passions, mixing beats and craft making respectively, for the Ottawa-based art-DJ ensemble, Spins and Needles.
The tight-knit couple marry their arts into a unique experience hosted monthly in Canada and abroad, binding together not just their knacks but people as well.
For a small cover fee “people come to the events and we provide them with craft materials and a project for the night and DJs spin funky beats” for the 19+ events, said Pelletier.
The duo provide all the materials and the instruction, you just have to grace them with your presence for this singular experience.
The couple was approached by the National Capital Commission to create a pubic art installation called the Urban Cozy Project for Winterlude.
It is taking place throughout February at Major’s Hill Park and Confederation Park with daytime crafts each weekend.
“It’s the idea of decorating the outside and transforming the city a little bit, bring some art to the park,” Pelletier said.
“The main focus is a large art installation project which [they] are spearheading called the Winter Cozy Project which basically involves covering a lot of trees and objects in the park with knitted and other craft materials,” Pelletier said.
The knit-graffiti or yarn-bombing scene is a public art phenomenon popping up around the world.
People can get involved by simply showing up at the kick-off event on Feb. 5 at Major’s Hill Park at 8 p.m.
“It’s pretty cold at night so we’ll do something simple,” Pelletier said.
“If people want to contribute something to the overarching project, they can send in those things to our address online,” he said.
They are also looking for volunteers to set up and photograph the finished product.
Spins and Needles fosters an environment to connect people in the art community locally and elsewhere.
“We’re encouraging international participants too, so it’s kind of a way of linking up the craft scene and people who want to get creative all over the world in a way,” Pelletier said.
The group, now in its fifth year, plans to continue its craft and undertake projects such as this in the future.
“This is our first kick at it. We’ve never done a real public art installation like this,” Pelletier said.
“It’s looking really good.”