Casting aside the daily doomscroll and picking up a slow hobby like hand-stitched embroidery can provide a much-needed brain break for students. It can also open the door for them to give back to the community while expressing themselves.
Get your own patch
The Visual Activism class’s patch sale will begin on Friday, Nov. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at The Op Shop. Remaining patches will be on sale at the shop through Jan. 1, 2026.
Professor Hinda Mandell introduced students to this rejuvenating, slow hobby through a new Visual Activism course. The students’ efforts to create and sell hand-stitched patches and buttons will directly benefit Foodlink, a Rochester-based nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and building healthier communities by addressing the symptoms and root causes of food insecurity.
Each student in the Visual Activism class created three patches or buttons—hand-stitched with their own personal messages—to be sold at The Op Shop during the Nov. 7 First Friday Rochester citywide event. The bulk of the sales will be donated to Foodlink, and a portion of the proceeds will go to The Op Shop, a local vintage store owned by Joanna (Jo) Carroll. The students submitted pitch papers and voted as a class to select a local charity to support.
Eva Witten, a second-year cybersecurity major from Hartford, Conn., said giving back to the local community through her handmade work was a meaningful opportunity.
“It feels like I’m contributing to something that matters. It’s an act that makes a direct, measurable impact, while also being something that I enjoy working on,” she said.
From hand-stitched patches and ribbons, to hand-sewn shirts, to zines expressing their own personal activist manifestos, Mandell said her goal when crafting assignments for the course was exposing students to the variety of ways they can express their beliefs beyond spoken or written words.
“So much activism today, especially for university students, seems to unfold in online spaces,” said Mandell. “I believe in the benefits of hand stitching and engaging with an act that is slow and methodical. I wanted students to have a tactile experience that really connects their own beliefs and opinions to something that they can hold.”
This is the first semester Mandell has offered Visual Activism. When she asked The Op Shop to collaborate, Carroll thought that the coursework was a perfect fit for a First Friday event at the shop.
Carroll curates monthly exhibitions at the shop in collaboration with First Friday to highlight local artists. This month, the spotlight will be on the Visual Activism students’ work.
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Jennelle Hart/RIT
Professor Hinda Mandell said the patch and button project’s open-ended nature allowed her students to pursue topics that “expressed a piece of their heart,” and that the students were “truly delighted” by the work of their classmates.
“November holds a collective pulse: a time when voices rise to be heard, when we exercise our rights through voting, and when nature itself reminds us of cyclical change,” said Carroll. “Through weaving, stitching, and felting, the students channel the physical and political forces that shape our world. Each piece reflects the belief that creation itself is a form of protest.”
Witten said she carries her skills and knowledge of hand stitching outside of the classroom. From helping other students in her dorm mend their clothing, to forming friendships through conversations sparked by her expressive patches, Witten found that the hobby has opened doors to cultivating community both on campus and in her chosen field of study.
“Art is the penultimate version of self-expression. I think it has an impact on the people who see me wearing the art I’ve made,” she said. “What that impact is, is for them to decide. But I think that through influencing others with these patches, I can promote this idea of self-expression in my career field.”
Vivian Contreras, a fourth year student enrolled in the combined accelerated bachelor’s/master’s degree program, said the Visual Activism coursework connects to why she chose criminal justice as her major. Her goal after graduation is to become an immigration attorney, so her three submissions followed a theme of immigration advocacy.
“I’ve spent close to three years focusing on immigration. I felt like this assignment was an opportunity to show what matters to me and what has been on my mind. It felt like I finally had a space where I could visually show what I’ve been researching and studying for so long,” she said.
Contreras, from Mount Airy, Md., plans to incorporate a form of hand-stitching activism outreach into her master’s degree capstone project, in which she anticipates connecting with local immigrant and refugee communities.
“I think that hand stitching is a really good way to make activism tangible. I’m hoping to take what I’ve learned from this class and show it to other people so they can also speak their mind. I hope this approach to advocacy can help these communities to speak out,” she said.
Bussing is available for students interested in attending First Friday Rochester events.
For more information about the Visual Activism course and crafting activism, email Hinda Mandell at hbmgpt@rit.edu or follow her on Instagram. Go to The Op Shop’s website for more information about the shop.
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