Plymouth Yarn Pop's 'By the Sea' made by local crafters on display throughout May

Rich Harbert, wickedlocal.com
·3 min read

PLYMOUTH – Local crafters have once again turned downtown buildings into colorfully decorated canvases to welcome spring.

The entrances to Pilgrim Hall Museum, the Center for Active Living, the Plymouth Antiquarian Society’s Hedge House Museum and the Plymouth Public Library are all sporting marine-themed artwork made from knitted, crocheted and felted materials.

Yarn Pop 2022, as the exhibit is known, will remain on display through May and features interactive components  including a scavenger hunt for lobsters, pirate’s treasure and historical landmarks woven into the displays.

Volunteers attach sea creatures made out of yarn to a pillar for this year's Yarn Pop exhibit in Plymouth.
Volunteers attach sea creatures made out of yarn to a pillar for this year's Yarn Pop exhibit in Plymouth.

The collaborative public arts display is presented for the second year by Plymouth Harbor Knits and the Plymouth Bay Cultural District. Funding was provided by grants through the Mass Cultural Council, the Plymouth Cultural Council and the Plymouth Growth and Development Corp.

Sponsors include Quincy College, Cascade Yarn Co., 13 Court, Cape Auto and Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.

Local crafters created similar art installations last year, using the flowers of spring as the theme for Yarn Pop.

More: Plymouth knitters welcome spring with colorful Yarn Pop art exhibit

More: Yarn Pop: Fiber artists celebrate renewal in Plymouth

Sea creatures made out of yarn are part of this year's Yarn Pop exhibit in Plymouth.
Sea creatures made out of yarn are part of this year's Yarn Pop exhibit in Plymouth.

This year they decided to play on the region’s connection to the ocean, creating art with the theme of “By the Sea.”

The Plymouth Bay Cultural Council put out the call for crafters to begin making pieces for the exhibit during the Christmas holiday season. Many crafters made seashells and aquatic creatures over the winter. Others made basic squares in colors that could be incorporated into a broader design,  such as various shades of brown to denote the sandy beach and squares of blue and gray that would be assembled to create whales.

The pillars of Pilgrim Hall Museum are decorated with sea creatures for a public art display called Yarn Pop.
The pillars of Pilgrim Hall Museum are decorated with sea creatures for a public art display called Yarn Pop.

Local artist Frimma Buckman designed 9-foot tall whales for the pillars at Pilgrim Hall. Volunteers at the Antiquarian Society created their own 25-foot long seashore design, with knitted buoys and pirates' treasure. The Center for Active Living’s display features an aquarium design.

The creations were mounted to a gardening mesh screen and then installed outside the buildings over the weekend.

Makers range from local schoolchildren to seasoned veterans who created replicas of Bug Light and the Mayflower out of yarn. Plymouth Harbor Knits and Cascade Yarn supplied free yarn and patterns to anyone who needed help.

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Yarn Pop 3
Yarn Pop 3

Malissa Kenney, of the Plymouth Bay Cultural Council, said the project continues to help people get through the isolation of the pandemic.

“Last year, our first year, the goal was to do a safe community project that was completely inclusive. Something fun and hopeful and vibrant that we could enjoy outside,” Kenney said. The response was so powerful that participants wanted to do it again and with the ocean theme.

In Plymouth, this year's Yarn Pop takes its inspiration from the theme "By the Sea."
In Plymouth, this year's Yarn Pop takes its inspiration from the theme "By the Sea."

“People said it gave them a purpose and how excited they were to see their work represented,” she said.

Kenney gave shout-outs to Quincy College, for offering space to assemble the displays, and to the Plymouth Parks Department, for transporting the murals. She also thanked the makers for their contributions.

“It would be nothing but blank canvases without their help,” she said.

This article originally appeared on wickedlocal.com: Yarn Pop on display in Plymouth, as crafter project signals spring