So that correspondence will go to the appropriate file in our Arachne archives, I have changed the subject line from the one used earlier today to Steampunk and Doily Free Zone (two subjects). We last discussed Steampunk on Arachne in 2011 ! There are probably people who cannot relate to that "label". It would be fun to hear what our members have to say about it. It is also suggested that you share information about what younger generations are doing creatively (like Steampunk and Angharad Rixon's Doily Free Zone) with younger members of your family and local lace groups. It will make for interesting conversation, and perhaps some inspired ways to bring young people to understanding lace and its potential. We must find ways to make lace making and lace knowledge appealing to younger artistically-inclined people - especially in America, where I have noted that the average ages of lacemakers in four local guilds to which I have belonged for quite a few years is alarmingly high. This is resulting in a decrease in the numbers of members and the numbers of volunteers available. This is A CALL TO ACTION, not a gentle reminder. Suggest you put "Steampunk", and then "Doily Free Zone", in the subject line of Searches of our archives to review what was said in recent years: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Here is Rixon's site for more information about the 2016 Symposium in Italy : http://www.doilyfreezone.com/call-for-papers-and-exhibition-proposals/ Let us add to these two examples, and come up with some resources for young lacemakers. I am not referring to young children here, but to those at high school and above ages who are artistically gifted and have the potential to become the designers and professional makers of contemporary laces of the 21st Century that reflect their time in history. Hopefully, our international lace guilds will lead the way. Please share what they are doing - so we can activate a productive dialogue of shared experience. Can we offer assistance to art programs in universities by sending our most talented and successful professionals to speak to classes? What can we do that others are doing, using the most recent information technologies available? (Let us whisper: May it never be said that I did not try to share my lace experience and ideas with those who will follow in my footsteps.) Arachne members know what "lace fever" is, and we must pass it on. Jeri Ames - in a small town in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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