Yarn Bombing L.A. to post ‘Black Lives Matter’ outside craft museum

Known for its knitted graffiti across the city, Yarn Bombing Los Angeles is back with a political message: The collective said it will display the words “Black Lives Matter” on the fence of the Craft and Folk Art Museum starting Monday, its way of supporting the national movement against police brutality and the killings of unarmed African Americans.

“With what’s been happening in the United States in the past year, we felt that there are spaces which are not safe for certain members of our community,” said Carol Zou, “head poncho” of Yarn Bombing L.A. “That’s something we wanted to address.”

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For the Record

Jan. 8, 11:55 a.m.: An earlier version of this post implied Side Street Projects was the name of a Yarn Bombing L.A. campaign. It is the name of a separate organization.

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The art installation is part of the group’s revival of its Urban Letters project, a Tumblr page where community members can suggest messages they want turned into knitted displays in public areas around Los Angeles. The site and the subsequent work they do, Zou said, helps to change “the way we look at public space and who gets to access that.”

The “Black Lives Matter” display has taken an estimated three weeks to complete by the group, which has five core members and a volunteer base of 50 people locally. Some of the letters have been hand-knitted, while others were made from recycled sweaters fitted to letter molds.

Yarn Bombing L.A. holds its monthly meetings at CAFAM and has displayed knitted art outside the museum many times before. The group’s most notable project was in January 2013, when it covered the three-story building in knitted granny squares.

The next place that can expect to be yarn-bombed is northwest Pasadena. The organization is partnering with Side Street Projects to highlight the low-income community of that area, Zou said.

Follow the reporter on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson.

Updated: This post was updated Jan. 12 to include photos of the finished Yarn Bombing L.A. installation.