Beadwork finds beauty behind bars

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This article was published 01/12/2022 (1093 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Judgment-free support. More than a creative outlet or the opportunity to make money, beading has given Brittany Ludlow a chance to connect with the world through her art — not her past.

“When you talk to someone you don’t know, as soon as they hear your situation or that you’re incarcerated, it’s straight to judgment,” says the Winnipeg mother of two, who served a sentence last year. “She has created such a safe space for us to be able to show that we aren’t just incarcerated; we make beautiful things.”

The “she” Ludlow is referring to is Sandra Burling, co-founder and sole volunteer of Women Helping Women Beadwork, a grassroots initiative to support incarcerated Indigenous women through the sale of their beadwork.

Burling works with 40 or so jailed or recently released women who send her beadwork to sell online. Love, kindness and respect are fundamental to the project.

“I believe that everybody should be treated with respect and dignity,” Burling says. “Until you walk a mile in someone’s shoes, you can’t have any judgment.”

Women Helping Women — which has amassed more than 16,000 Instagram followers in the last two years — started entirely by accident.

Burling saw an opportunity to help when she met Tryli Anderson in 2019. Their kids were dating and Anderson, who was incarcerated at the time, started sending gifts of beadwork she was making in the Women’s Correctional Centre in Headingley.

“I said to her, ‘Wow, this stuff is amazing — how would you like to sell it?’” Burling says.

Anderson, whose cellmate introduced her to beading, was taken aback.

“I was more surprised than anything that people wanted to buy it,” she says.

She started making lanyards and progressed to long dangly earrings, colourful chokers and intricate dream catchers. Recently, she beaded her first pair of moccasins.

“It helps me with my patience, because I was a very angry person before I started beading,” Anderson says of the process. “It’s peaceful and it’s soothing.”

It’s a similar creative outlet for Ludlow, who specializes in earrings of butterfly wings and red dresses in honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

“It’s a really good coping mechanism,” she says. “There’s so many unhealthy decisions that I could make, but instead I sit down and bead.”

Women Helping Women has grown through word-of-mouth. Ludlow got involved when she was recruited by Anderson, who has made it her mission to share the opportunity with others.

“In the beginning of being incarcerated, I was struggling a lot with being a single mom and not having family members to help me out with funds, plus I hated asking people for money,” Anderson says. “And I saw some (other) girls in there that didn’t have anything… so I just kept going around and telling people, you know, spreading it out.”

“Tryli was instrumental in this,” Burling adds. “She did the most unselfish thing and didn’t keep it to herself.”

The beaders receive 100 per cent of the profits, which are deposited into their accounts so they can buy necessities, such as phone cards or toiletries, and help support family members on the outside. With the money from bead sales, Ludlow was able to buy birthday and Christmas presents for her sons while she was incarcerated.

Burling works full-time and spends her evenings and weekends organizing, pricing and photographing the beadwork she receives by mail or picks up from various local institutions. She posts the work on Instagram (@womenhelpingwomen_beadwork) and has sold more than 1,000 pieces to buyers around the world.

Like the project itself, the social media page has grown through word-of-mouth.

“There has been lots of community support,” Burling says. “People recognize how beautiful the art is and really want to be supportive of incarcerated women.”

This Friday, Women Helping Women is having its first in-person trunk sale at the C2 Centre for Craft, hosted by the Manitoba Craft Council. Burling is bringing work by 15 women and will be joined by Ludlow and Anderson.

Thus far, the project has lived online. The prospect of meeting buyers in person is equal parts exciting and nerve-racking.

“I don’t even know what to expect,” Anderson says with a smile.

Women Helping Women has gotten bigger than anyone involved could have imagined. For Burling, the connections she’s made have been the most gratifying part.

“I spend a lot of time on the phone,” she says, adding that she’s picked up a number of women on their release day. “These women aren’t just incarcerated women; they’re my friends.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @evawasney