The yarn moves slowly between Kia Love’s fingers, the way it did for the women whose stories she grew up hearing. Love’s mother—a seamstress—often told her about her grandmother and great-grandmother, who gathered after church to quilt, talk, and build community around their hands.
“I’ve always been around textiles,” Love says. “My mom told me stories about how the women in my family used to meet after church and quilt and gossip.”
Those stories stayed with her, especially as she grew older and noticed how little time people now have to keep handmade traditions alive.
“Women today have careers and families,” she says. “They don’t have time to actually sit down and do those things the way my grandmother’s generation did.”
Love didn’t learn quilting as a child, but she felt drawn to the craft after high school. She learned knitting at 19 and laughs remembering how long her first attempt took.
“It took me eight hours to learn the first step,” she says. “But after that, I just took off.”
Now, as Cumberland County Public Library’s first Artist in Residence, she is helping people across the region reconnect with textile art—not only through technique, but through community.
Before stepping into the residency, Love created and taught her own textiles-and-sustainability curriculum at the library. It began as a closed-door workshop until curious visitors pushed her to open it up.
“My program was my baby,” she says. “But once I opened the doors, people wandered in—curious about what was happening.”
That experience prepared her for the residency’s public nature, where open studio hours and spontaneous conversations are part of the work.
The residency itself grew out of Creative Collaborations, a new library initiative developed to expand access to arts education.
The first year of Creative Collaborations will include more than 320 hours of open studio time across all eight library locations, along with a set of new art programs for children, teens and adults.
The residency also outlines planned collaborations with four Title I high schools, including classroom art supplies, artist visits, mentorship opportunities and enrichment support for art teachers.
Deputy Library Director Gracey Brandt said staff researched residencies across the country and sought grant funding as they noticed community demand for more creative programming—especially after cuts to fine arts opportunities in schools.
“We realized the library could fill a gap,” Brandt said. “Artists needed places to work and teach, and communities needed access.”
“Arts programs are also one of the first things reduced in schools,” she added. “We wanted to support opportunities for students who might not otherwise get them.”
Teaching Across Ages: Slowing Down, Opening Up
Love’s workshops now draw learners ranging from age five to seventy-five.
“Kids don’t overthink it,” she says. “A little girl was knitting in ten minutes.”
Adults often need reminders to savor the pace:
“Adults want to rush to the end,” she says. “I remind them to slow down and enjoy the process.”
Teens, she says, come in guarded but open up with time. To reach them, Love designs programs rooted in fashion, customization and identity—ways for them to see textile art as something relevant to their daily lives.
“I’m not going to walk in and say, ‘We’re knitting,’” she says. “We customize clothing. We make things they actually wear.”
One of her workshops, Fit Check, invites teens to bring clothing to personalize through appliqué, embroidery, and fabric paint.
Another workshop guides teens through designing small fabric patches that reflect their interests, personalities, or future goals.
“You should have seen us trying to come up with the titles,” Love says. “I’m not a teen, so I don’t always know what they’re saying anymore. But Fit Check felt right.”
Moments of connection often follow.
“One student told me she wants to be a textile designer or interior designer,” Love says. “That stayed with me.”
Partnership With Cumberland County Schools
Love will teach a unit of study in participating high schools during the spring 2026 semester, supported by art teachers and district staff. Planning meetings began this fall, with curriculum development continuing into winter.
According to Danielle Ellis, the library’s special project liaison, the education component of the residency is still taking shape.
“We’re still in the preliminary stages,” Ellis said. “So right now we’re focused on planning, gathering materials and coordinating with the teachers.”
Ellis said teachers responded enthusiastically when she dropped off early promotional materials.
“When we brought the flyers to the schools, the teachers were really excited,” she said. “There’s already a lot of curiosity about what this program will bring.”
For Love, a graduate of Douglas Byrd High School, the partnership carries personal meaning.
“Working with that school again feels full circle to me,” she says.
She hopes students will see textile art not as an outdated tradition but as a medium for storytelling and self-expression. “Students just need to see that this art belongs to them too,” she says.
Love begins many workshops with conversation—small updates, memories of relatives who sewed or crocheted, or reflections from participants trying textile art for the first time.
“My goal is always the same—get people talking, learning, and creating,” she says.
“There’s something different when people learn together,” she adds. “It’s not just the craft—it’s the community that forms around it.”
Upcoming Programs
Love is leading several teen-centered workshops this month. CityView readers can find full dates and registration information on the Cumberland County Public Library calendar.
Fit Check: Customize Your Clothes
Teens bring hoodies, canvas bags or clothing to personalize using appliqué, embroidery, and fabric paint.
Main Character Energy: DIY Patch-Making
Participants design custom fabric patches that reflect their identity, interests or goals—patches they can display or attach to clothing or bags.
Both workshops are open to teens ages 12–18.
This program is supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (IMLS grant number LS-259195-OLS-25).
To contact education reporter Dasia Williams, email dwilliams@cityviewnc.com.
