It was 1989 when Queen Anne artist Jean Bradbury first traveled to Jordan to work as an illustrator at an excavation site. During that trip she fell in love with the people and the country.
The excavation she worked on didn’t hire women, but the local women wanted something to do. So Bradbury taught the local women how to make crafts to sell to tourists. That project is self-sustaining and still continues today.
On her trips to Jordan, Bradbury spends a lot of time in the farm fields of a town called Safi. During the last few years, she began to see tents in the fields, which housed refugees fleeing the violence in Syria. Between 1,000 and 2,000 people were arriving at the Zaatari Refugee Camp each night when Bradbury was there.
“It was terribly upsetting,” she said. “The war has been horribly vicious, and they’ve been targeting children.”
Bradbury got tired of crying while she read the news.
“People told me, ‘You can’t stop the violence,’” she said. “Even if it doesn’t count, even it it’s so tiny, I can’t stand this feeling, so I’m going to do something.”
So Bradbury turned to the one thing she knew how to do: art. She created Studio Syria, and last March, she raised $1,000 and traveled to the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan to bring art supplies to the women and children. The camp is the largest refugee camp in the Middle East and the second largest in the world.
Bradbury had only intended to deliver supplies, but they asked her to teach. So, for four intensive days, she opened up a trailer and helped the local children create art. The first day, they stopped counting after 200 children came through the trailer.
“They were so hungry for something creative to do,” she said. “The little trailer where we were working was just full of joy and color and smiles.”
When she left, the children were in tears, asking her not to go. So, even though she hadn’t intended to go back, she began planning another trip.
She’ll return for two weeks in mid-September. This time, in additional to children’s books in Arabic, she’ll bring yarn and buy art supplies in Jordan.
Local yarn drive
Bradbury, whose work is featured in hospitals, restaurants and coffee shops throughout Seattle, has teamed up with Nancy’s Sewing Basket in Queen Anne (2221 Queen Anne Ave. N.) and Stitches in Capitol Hill (711 E. Pike St.) to collect yarn through the end of August to bring to the women and children in Syria.
“It seems like an odd thing for refugees to want,” Bradbury said. “It’s not just so they can make their own hats and sweaters — it’s the process of making. They need something to do, and they want the dignity of creation.”
Tamara Somerfield, manager of Nancy’s Sewing Basket, said she wanted to participate in the drive because “so many people have leftovers and things they’re never going to use.”
On Sunday, Aug. 25, Bradbury will be at Melrose Market for the street fair on Capitol Hill. She’ll work with Mamnoon (1508 Melrose Ave.), a Syrian and Lebanese restaurant, and with children to create art to take to the refugee kids and collecting yarn.
“[Art] can bring peace to our own hearts, even if it can’t bring peace to warring places,” Bradbury said.
For more information, visit www.studiosyria.org.
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