Samizdat Sundays

Join us for Samizdat Sundays—hands‑on textile workshops inspired by the spirit of creative resistance and DIY culture found in samizdat traditions. Each week offers a different project, connecting archival stories of subversion with contemporary making.

We encourage participants to bring an item each week—a T‑shirt, a pair of jeans, or any textile you’re ready to transform, repair, or experiment with.

Each session is free, open to all skill levels, and guided by artists who delight in subversion and play. Come for one or come for all—together we’ll stitch, alter, repair, and imagine new forms of expression.

SECRET MESSAGE CUFF/BRACELET
February 1, 2026

Join me (on my birthday!) to make a cuff or bracelet with embroidered/appliqued secret (or not) text/symbols.
We will make bracelets/cuffs with discarded fabric (or other — perhaps metal foil?), fastened with discarded buttons. You can bring your own materials, or you can mine from our stash.
The cuffs can have rough or hidden seams; can be meant to be worn on wrists or ankles, or not at all; can contain messages for others or for only the wearer. The cuff/bracelet can reference ancient adornments or be wholly contemporary. Perhaps your cuff will be metaphorical rather than wearable. We will look at some examples and think about the symbolic nature of materials, imbuing our work with meaning.

Welcome back to Samizdat Sundays!

WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?

February 8, 2026

Taking a cue from our beloved friend Cara, who is also the Deputy Director of the Wende, we will make valentines today out of found materials. These valentines can be made to be mailed, given in person, buried, burned, placed in a time capsule, or forgotten in a drawer. Perhaps your valentine is communicating with the past or the future. We will look at the work of Ray Johnson, a pioneer in what has been called “mail art,” so that we can understand our work in the context of a long tradition of making art to give away. We will have textiles and print materials, as well as a wide range of papers, to make our valentines. You are, as always, invited to bring your own materials as well.
If you would like to mail your valentine, we will have some envelopes and a handful of stamps so your valentine will be received by Valentine’s Day.

BODY CAM/DOCUMENTS POUCH

February 15, 2026

Today we will make a pouch for our phones or documents that can be worn around our necks. This pouch can include a hole for our phone’s camera so that we can record with our hands free. While the idea for this was inspired by the many people who are recording the actions of ICE and CBP (and the history of body cams worn by law enforcement), it could also be useful as a makeshift GoPro-style recording setup for your next adventure in the foothills surrounding Los Angeles. As a documents holder, we can think of this as a travel pouch, whether you’re traveling out of the country or to the grocery store. Your pouch may also be made to be hidden, something to be worn underneath clothing rather than on top of it (or perhaps even sewn into an existing garment). Of course, your pouch may be used for potpourri or something that is not related to surveillance or documentation at all. The prompt is for you to use however you are inspired.

The idea for this project came from the Soviet Hippie collection at the Wende that features several photographs of people wearing decorated pouches (with unknown purpose). Our pouches will be in dialogue with theirs, as well as with all of the people of the past, present, and future who have needed to carry something important close to their hearts.

FINISH-UP CLINIC

February 22, 2026

Today we will finish up projects from this month (or before, or even unrelated to Samizdat Sundays!). If this is your first time coming to the workshop, you can work on one of the other projects we’ve done this month (or previously, depending on the materials we have on hand). This year, we will dedicate the last Sunday of the month to finishing up. Let’s finish things together in the beautiful classroom at the Wende!

About the teaching artist

Kate Ingold is an LA-based artist and poet working with the discarded, the damaged, and the worn out. Materials and methods include textiles, collage, photography, video, ceramics, and performative installation. She works in series driven by conceptual concerns and is currently making work in two interwoven projects: Relics for Future Rituals and Damaged Goods/Small Repairs.

RSVPs for this free program do not guarantee admission. Limited seating is available on a first come, first served basis.

An ADA-accessible entrance to the Glorya Kaufman Community Center is available through the garden gate from the parking lot.

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Host or Publisher The Wende Museum