SHE KNITS PLAYFULLNESS

Artist who Knits Playgrounds for Kids

Toshiko Horiuchi  McAdam is an artist that is not your everyday knitter.  My Grandmother knitted, my aunts, and my Mother, but they knitted sweaters and the like.  They were skilled, but Toshiko has taken knitting to a whole new level!

Can you imagine if you were  a child to play in this wonder world!   from google image for education only

Toshiko Horiuchi McAdam, artist, knitter 

Who is Toshiko and how did her journey lead her to these massive projects she does.  I would call them "art installations for fun." Lets she what we can learn about this amazing woman. 

"Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam is a leading fibre artist in Canada and Japan, using knitting, crochet, and knot making techniques to create her work. Currently, her work focuses on creating large, interactive textile environments.

MacAdam was born in Japan in 1940 but soon moved to Japanese-occupied Manchuria with her family during World War II. When the Soviet Union took over the area in 1945, MacAdam and her family were forced to flee and eventually returned to Japan. Later, MacAdam attended the Tama Fine Art Institute in Japan and went on to study in the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where she received her masters of fine arts degree.^[1] After graduating, MacAdam worked for Boris Kroll Fabrics, an acclaimed textile design company in New York City. She then went on to teach at universities across the United States and Japan, including theColumbia University Teachers College, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the University of Georgia and the Kyoto Junior College of Art.

Currently, MacAdam teaches a textiles and fashion course entitled "Fiber Fabric Fashion" at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and runs Interplay Design and Manufacturing with her husband, Charles MacAdam, in Bridgeport, Nova Scotia.^[2] " from Wikipedia

Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam  

The video below is about Toshiko's art installation playgrounds.  Just click on the arrow in the center of the screen.

I love this artist and what she has created. One of the parts I especially loved reading about her was that she noticed that children were climbing her installations in museums.  Rather than getting upset, she took interest and consulted a landscape specialist and others and altered her style to large installations with rainbow colors for children!  Amazing!  Learning and adapting is a creative skill set.

MONTREAL MUSEUM OF ART

There a few cities one can fall in love with immediately, but Montreal was one of those special places for me. My partner had gone of a conference for Association of Death Education and Counseling. The conference was held at the Elizabeth Hotel. It was in spring after Montreal had a really rough winter with lots of snow. The tulips were peaking out when we arrived and in full bloom by the end of the week. I was taken with this beautiful city, with lovely architecture and a strong sense of history. The food, wine and restaurants were wonderful. We went to many galleries and I was impressed with the quality of art they carried. We also went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was an expose of Cuban Art that was being held at the time. It is not something the United States would have carried and I felt fortunate to see current Cuban Artists. There was also a wonderful collection of African Mask and statues. It may have been a permanent part of the Museum collection, but it gave me an idea for a series of work that I would like to do with conceptual art. I would rant and rave about other Canadian cities, but Montreal is the only place I have been in Canada. I am looking forward to more experiences and exposure to more art and artist with our neighbors to the North.

Here is the website of the Montreal Museum of Art, and it is also listed in a clickable form on the right hand column, websites of interest.

http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/en/index.html