Interview: Athene Wright, stitcher

 

After you wear & launder a sewn fabric mask, 

it comes out of the dryer wrinkled

 

Iron it to make the pleats crisp again!

Today's interview is with one of our incoming MFA students at UNC-Chapel Hill, Athene Wright. She decided to move from NYC to Chapel Hill in advance of her planned schedule when the NY governor began considering a no-travel order and lockdown for NYC. Here's our interview with my questions in boldface:

What is your profession in non-pandemic times?

Up until the pandemic I was living in Hell’s Kitchen and working as a stitcher in the Garment District at Bethany Joy Costumes I am now based out of Chapel Hill.

What sorts of projects would you be working on, were we living in normal times?

In pre-pandemic times, I was involved in the production of costumes for Broadway and TV and film. When my work closed were were working on costumes for the new musical about Princess Diana for the Longacre Theater.

What spurred you to start sewing masks?

I am sewing masks because it is the best way I can help my community weather the pandemic (aside from of course social distancing!). It is also a great way to relieve the stress of helplessness in the face of tragedy.

Agreed. Are you affiliated with one of the larger initiatives like Masks4All, Mask Crusaders, etc., or if not, for whom do you make your PPE?

I am currently stitching masks for Covering the Triangle. 

That's my plan for the summer, too, now. For readers unfamiliar with CTT, they employ furloughed arts professionals to sew masks to distribute to the homeless, which helps two populations at once. You can contribute to the CTT GoFundMe fundraiser here.

If you have a professional website for your non-pandemic job, please share it here.

My website is http://athenewright.com/

I'm not without bias here, but if you want to read about some really cool practical research, Athene's blog at that link is a good way to spend an afternoon!

Athene, thank you for making space in your day for this interview. I appreciate your valuable time, and I'm looking forward to working with you once PlayMakers Repertory Company resumes staging shows.



If you are a professional who's making PPE after losing your clients/work/market/gigs/etc to the pandemic and would like to be part of this profile series, comment on this post or drop me a DM on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.