Michael Swaine
Michael is currently building the Free Mending Library in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco. It is located at 509 Ellis, a location recently rededicated as the Tenderloin National Forest by the Luggage Store gallery. It is a library for fixing the holes in our lives - a place to borrow thread and sewing machines and talk about life. Michael's work is always collaborative in nature. It has been included in exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art; and the Exploratorium, San Francisco. During his NEA-sponsored artist residency in the Learning Studio, Michael worked side-by-side with Stijn Schiffeleers, allowing for unavoidable collisions. Michael outfitted his mobile sewing-machine cart with a mechanical music-making device that will allow his "customers" to punch their own sheet music while they wait for their clothes to be mended.