Washington County Courthouse is ‘yarn bombed’
Above a landing in the Washington County Courthouse basement, this large blue wall hanging, highlighted by beads, won a national competition a few years ago.
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Felted sheep graze in a pasture that hangs on the second floor of the courthouse. Globes of light fixtures are reflected in the glass protecting the framed artwork.
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Limbs of a tree branch out from the lower left corner in this crocheted purple red and yellow creation.
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
This bouquet is an example of free-form crochet accented with pearls.
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Many textures are apparent among variations of the color green.
Eyeballs peek out from leafy branches. Gnomes sprout from landscaped areas. A totem pole of colorful animals and a web of yarn-adorned hoops greet visitors to the Washington Farmers Market.
For those amused by the creations that appeared in downtown Washington this summer, the visitors’ screening outside Washington County Courthouse will provide a gateway to some familiar artistic creations.
Once inside the courthouse, visitors can go inside and take a look at some artistic creations that wouldn’t hold up too well if exposed to the elements.
“It’s not yarn bomb,” said fiber artisan Cheryl Hopper of the wall hangings and framed pieces that have been on display since the last week of July.
An off-white arrangement of flowers is accented with pearls in what Hopper called “free-form crochet.”
A flock of sheep grazes on a woolly landscape made, appropriately, with all felted roving.
The biggest installation, which ombres from lighter blues at the bottom to the darkest hues at the top is interspersed with light-catching beads.
Hopper said the piece from her Picasso-esque Blue Period placed with an award at a national crochet competition.
“It was either 2017 or 2018,” she said. “In Chicago? I go to them every year. It could’ve been Portland.
“When I do my artwork, I go for color and texture. I can use just about anything. They’re all remnants. I’ll take any remnants.”
One courthouse employee said when she came to work one day, the walls were as usual: a faux golden marble known as “scagliola.” When she took a break, she looked around and was pleasantly surprised to see the walls had become a fiber art gallery.
Hopper contacted the commissioners with a proposal for the courthouse, but she wasn’t going to scale a ladder in the rotunda, yarn collages in hand. The county building and grounds staff handled the task after consulting with Court Administrator Patrick Grimm.
“Making people happy is my intent,” Hopper said during what will go down in history as a summer marked by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“If they have to ride around in the car, what do they have to look at?” she wondered, noting she began planning a “yarn bomb” of Washington in 2019 long before anyone heard of the term “COVID.”
Hopper, a member of the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, learned someone traveled from as far away as Indiana, Pa., to see what summer brought to the business district and beyond.
“A lot of people came,” she said. “I’ve gotten letters from people over at the hospital, too.”
Grimm, with whom Hopper spoke in the planning stages of her display, said the fiber creations can be seen at the courthouse through August.
“They’re neat,” said Grimm at the courthouse beside the blue wall hanging. “She didn’t want to wrap anything in here,” he said, viewing the courthouse as part of the larger Main Street project.
“During the pandemic, it’s kind of cheerful.”
The courthouse is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m Monday through Friday with the exception of holidays.