Main Street’s biggest ‘yarnbomb’ yet brings cheer to bad year, but artists need help
A year’s work and more than $3,500 worth of yarn have turned Columbia’s Main Street into a cozy winter wonderland, the biggest “yarnbombing” project to blanket downtown since local artists began the tradition five years ago. And one special tree — the Giving Tree — stands out among all the rest.
The five-block public art project from the S.C. State House to the Tapp’s building has been in the making since last fall. But it took on a new significance — and hit an unexpected challenge — when the coronavirus pandemic swept the country this spring, desolating once-vibrant public spaces like Main Street for weeks on end at one point.
“When the pandemic hit, we thought, this is the most important year yet, because everybody’s going to be stressed out. This is going to be a hard year, so let’s make this the best we can,” said Bohumila Augustinova, a local artist who has spearheaded the yarnbombing of Columbia since 2016.
Yarnbombing is a sort of guerilla art project — sometimes jokingly called “granny graffiti” — that involves wrapping trees, lampposts and parking meters with large knitted and crocheted pieces in vibrant hues.
In the early stages of planning this year’s project, Augustinova and other organizers invested thousands of dollars in buying yarn with the hope and expectation that Main Street-area businesses, which had expressed support for the yarnbombing, would help support them financially.
But the pandemic has dealt a devastating financial blow to small businesses, in particular. Understandably, many were not able to support the yarnbombing after all, Augustinova said.
“Once the pandemic hit, everybody cut their charitable giving, and I can’t blame anybody. I can’t be mad about that,” she said.
Even without merchants’ financial backing, by springtime, the project was too far along to abandon. Plus, many of the people involved — more than 150 crocheters and knitters ranging from teens to senior citizens — were finding more comfort than ever in their yarn work amid the pandemic isolation.
“For most of us artists, we’ve been cooped up at home. So what do you do? You make more art. And then what do you do with that?” Augustinova said.
Liza Bajarias, an architectural designer who joined the yarnbombing crew after moving to Columbia from California in 2017, drew inspiration from her former home in San Diego for one of her Main Street creations: a Christmas cactus. For another, she created a gingerbread house village scene — but with no gingerbread people walking the streets, a reflection of this pandemic year that’s kept so many people at home.
Bajarias spent countless hours crocheting for the yarnbombing project, drawing from the skills she first learned as a child from her mother, who would make clothing.
“I’ve always been a maker, and makers are going to make. We can’t help it,” Bajarias said.
The yarnbombers have created a GoFundMe online fundraiser to help cover the costs of this year’s supplies and to help cover the future costs of cleaning many of the knitted pieces that will be repurposed into free scarves and other garments for those who need them.
When all the other yarn work comes down on Main Street, one tree will remain covered: the Giving Tree, standing outside Mast General Store in the 1600 block.
An ongoing tradition for the past several years, the tree is covered with scarves, hats, gloves and other cold-weather necessities for anyone in need — or want — to take for free. Augustinova said she’s even seen people hang old coats, baggies of self-care items and gift cards on the tree.
“Because of COVID, now more than ever, this is the year of essentially helping people out, whether emotionally or physically,” Bajarias said.
With the recent spate of cold temperatures, items are being taken from the Giving Tree faster than they can be replenished. The yarnbombers are hoping to see more people donate to it and look forward to restitching their current artwork into future garments to hang on the tree.
“I thought it was a very cool thing to be giving and at the same time making,” Bajarias said. “For us, it’s not like, ‘Do you really need it?’ We’re not asking that question. Do you want it? Will it keep you warm? Will it make you smile? Will is lessen your burden by taking this tiny heart or this scarf? ... We’re just glad that you’re taking it because you want it or you need it.”
Augustinova is hoping to raise $5,000 to cover the costs of the yarnbombing and cleaning. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/yarnbombing-of-columbia.
To donate items to the Giving Tree, visit the 1600 block of Main Street, outside of Mast General Store.
