Pat McLean-Smith

Pat McLean-Smith (ACG ’05, ’11, ’20; LTA ’06; WOO ‘22) has been invited to be an exhibiter and workshop participant at the Crochet Guild of America’s 2022 Chain Link Conference in New Orleans. At this three-day conference for fiber artists, Pat will showcase her crochet dolls as well as attend workshops taught by some of the yarn industry’s top designers and instructors. By interacting and learning from other crafters all over the country, Pat believes this opportunity will allow her to be better connected and skilled in her craft. This grant will support airfare and accommodations, as well as exhibitor and workshop fees.

Pat’s project, The Me Eye See, is a virtual, ten-week crochet doll making and poetry workshop for girls and young women, where participants will create a self-image doll, then write an affirmation/self-reflection poem to accompany it. Pat’s intent is to help participants cope with the "new normal" of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing social unrest through creation of dolls and poetry to support self expression and positive self image.

Pat will conduct a series of workshops called Girls to Griot, which is designed to explore the issues and development of a participant’s voice through the creative process of writing, the visual arts and the performing arts. This project will focus on how one choses to act, learn and transmit ethics and values. Girls to Griots, invites the participants to “talk back”, share with one another their own stories, experiences and reflections, and to help build a collective picture. The participants will be from local community shelters and senior centers and will culminate in a performance.

As a poet, Patricia's art is her voice. It is not only personal therapy; it is her tool for social change. When creating a work of art, she is able to flush out her anger and frustration, work out any inner problems, thus being able to live a healthy life. Patricia discovers and expresses her view of the world through her poetry, using art for social change by challenging and inspiring people to think. Four years ago, she founded Tomorrow's Girls, a summer program for 8-13 year-old girls focusing on learning life skills and empowerment through creative and cultural expression. The program began out of a need to offer an emotionally safe space for new and beginning poets to create. Now the focus is on strengthening artists, developing leaders, and creating change in her community through artistic culture. Patricia has also created a poetry therapy workshop, Poetry Pulls Pain, that she has shared with numerous educational institutions, women's organizations, and transitional homes. The workshop is designed to promote awareness and self-healing that comes when one's own words are used to recognize the negative notions and emotions that prevent people from moving forward in a positive way. She uses poetry as a way to encourage others, as well as herself, to contemplate life, feelings, and spirituality, knowing that poetry can heal and connect us.

Pat, a performance poet, will facilitate Tomorrow’s Girls, a summer program that she created for young women that now takes place at PASCEP. Her program focuses on self-discovery and building self-esteem through cultural and artistic expression, such as poetry, dance, music and other arts and crafts, as well as building positive relationships with family and community. Much like Pat’s own poetry, she encourages girls to examine and create art about the world from their own perspective.