Temecula park visitors get hooked on street artwork made from yarn

Colorful yarnpompoms, crochetedflowersand knitted garlands are adorning trees in front of the Temecula Valley Museum and prompting people to ask, Whats going on?The answer is yarn splashing,a street artwork created in the late 1990s by knitters andcrocheters thatbeautifies public places. Its finally come to Temecula thanks to aYarn Splash exhibition that the museum has organized with help from the Temecula Valley Womens Club.Museum Services ManagerTracy Frick developed the exhibition idea after learning about yarn splashing on a website. She thought it would be a creative way to draw visitors toSam Hicks Monument Park where the museum is located.Im always looking for ways to attract people to the park, Frick said.The exhibition is being held at the park inconjunctionwith the city of TemeculasStreet PaintingFestivalon June 20to 22in Old Town. During the festival children can loop yarn around the slats of three benches next to the Chapel of Memories. The TVWC isdonating the yarn.Were trying to bring the beauty of the chalk art festival down the street to the park and make it colorful, vibrant and whimsical, Frick said. Shehopes that the Yarn Splash is so successful that it can become an annual event.Chair of the TVWCs committee for the museum Beverly Webb and other committee members did the initialyarn splashing in front of the museum to inspire others to get involved. She said it has worked because morethan 15 individuals and groups have signed up to participate and reserved a park amenity to yarn splash. Frick said artists have until June 21 to install their work. It will be displayed until August 25 and then it has to be removed. We have knitting, crochet and macram represented, Webb said. Sheknits, crochets and macrams and created the macram draping the parks mission bell.Frickdoesnt do yarn arts and is in awe of some artists installation plans.A Menifee yarn club reserved the gazebo and Webb said its going to be absolutely gorgeous. The club plans on covering the gazebos columns with a patriotic look using with red, white and blue yarn. Therewill also be a whimsical yarn flower garden around the outside of the gazebo.At the museums bazaar on June 7, crocheters Charlotte Horton of Murrieta and Debra Mosely of Temecula sawthe yarn splashed trees. They both thought it was a novel way to beautify the park.Its cool, Mosely said. I neverheard of it before.Mosely was at the bazaar selling her crocheted crafts. She can knittoo, but prefers crochet because its more fun.You can do a lot more different things with one needle, she said.Mosely works full time in finance and crochets after work because it relaxes her. She joked that she has crates of yarn at home and her family has banned her from buying more. Shes going to use some of that yarn to create artwork for the exhibition. Horton was also at the bazaar selling her crocheted shawls and jewelry.I used to be a really avidcrocheter, but people dont want to pay you enough for it, she commented.Horton taughtherself to crochet nine years ago. She also taught herself to knit,water color, decor paint, make jewelry and do felting. She can crochet a shawl ineight hours and has a store on Etsy where she sells her crafts.Im a really big believer in crafts not dying out, Horton said. Shes going to participate in the Yarn Splash, too.For more information, call the museum at(951) 694-6450.