Overview:
Crafting for Democracy brings Coloradans together every month at the Denver Press Club to create art and foster community.
On October 10, the backroom of the Denver Press Club buzzed with chatter as crafters gathered for Crafting for Democracy. Boxes of materials spilled across tables, while attendees unpacked their own bags of yarn, felt and fabric.
Foam pumpkins were painted, spiders glued onto wreaths, and from the piano in the corner, Denver Press Club president Marianne Goodland played the eerie theme from the 1978 film “Halloween.” She learned the piece just for the occasion, “to set the mood,” while the seasonal décor the group made that night would brighten the club for the rest of October.
Outside the building, co-founder Jennifer Forker shook a can of spray paint and summed up the spirit of the evening: “My own philosophy is you fight fascism by building the community. I think, like any opportunity to get people together, it’s important … That’s my whole raison d’être: to build community.”
Crafting for Democracy is a monthly meetup that began in 2024, giving attendees space to work on their projects alongside others. It takes place on the second Friday of every month at the Denver Press Club.
The idea grew out of what co-founder Linda Carpio Shapley was already doing with friends. “We were just like, ‘Hey, let’s get together once a month and knit,’” she recalls. “It was in advance of the 2024 election that we started calling it Crafting for Democracy.”
Attendees can bring all sorts of crafts, from knitting to needle felting. For those who don’t have any specific crafting experience or have yet to find their crafting niche, they are still encouraged to attend.
“Just come talk and bring a coloring book or whatever,” Shapley said, who was working on adding tassels to a scarf she was knitting. However, Forker adds, “Please don’t come with your fire (crafts).”
At its core, Crafting for Democracy revolves around connection. “There’s a lot of bad news right now,” Shapley says. “Community is always the thing that helps us withstand it. That’s what makes it better.”
For Shapley, crafting itself grew from grief. She learned to knit in 2016 after Denver Post reporter Colleen O’Connor was killed in a hit-and-run. A friend organized a memorial and asked others to help decorate it with handmade flowers.
“She taught like four or five of us at the Post how to knit,” Shapley recalls. “I just never stopped doing it after that.”
Sharing stories like this is intentional. “People tell really great stories while we’re crafting. We get to know people on a deeper level,” Forker said. “I really cherish how every second Friday I show up and there are going to be some regular people there, and then some new faces I’ve never met. I’m meeting new people by showing up to this and hearing their life stories. That’s my favorite part.”
And while the monthly meetings happen inside the Press Club, no membership is required. “We’re not in the press, but we support democracy,” said attendee Matt Blumenshine, as he knitted a pumpkin decoration.
Blumenshine, who first met Forker at a yarn shop in Edgewater, has been attending for the past year with friends Stacy and Darron Grissom. The friends say attending the group has broadened their perspectives on Colorado politics.
“It’s interesting to talk to these folks who know a lot more about what’s going on in Colorado, to hear some very interesting stories and help inform us about what’s going on in Denver and Colorado,” Blumenshine said. Darron, needle-felting a tiny pumpkin, adds that he often gets his news from social media.
“I’m a little older, so I grew up with local news having a little bit more impact,” Darron said. “So coming here, not just talking to people in this group, I’ve also found myself just talking to other local journalists out in the front room. It’s been very informative on subjects I don’t get a lot of exposure to.”
Discussions at the Crafting for Democracy meetings will often lead Darrohn down a rabbit hole. “There was a lot of talk about water rights on the Western Slope one night,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘That’s interesting,’ so I went and researched it.”
The next Crafting for Democracy occurs at The Denver Press Club on November 14. Forker’s advice for newcomers?
“Show up, bring a friend to crafting for democracy and get a taste of the club,” she said. “That way, because you’ve already got a group of people who will welcome you, you might want to stick around.”