Creativi t y Lives On
By Alexandra Martin Photos by M. Schleif Photography
Thanks to the vibrant, brilliant minds of the team at Unglued, crafts and DIY are thriving, despite the ripples of the pandemic. As soon as summer hits the upper midwest, hoards of crafty, fun-loving adults rejoice at the anticipation of attending Unglued's Summer Camp. On the wooded shores of YMCA Camp Cormorant in Lake Park, Minn., Ashley Morken and the team at Unglued host an unforgettable weekend of crafts, artisanal beverages, camp-style meals and new friendships. Created in 2014, the camp came about with intentions of bringing likeminded adults together for some old-fashioned summer camp fun...just like in the good ol' days. But this year such an extravaganza wasn't the right call. Health concerns and extra precautions meant a summer sleepaway camp with dozens of adults stacked up in bunk beds wouldn't work. However, just because the grounds of Camp Cormorant aren't filled with creative folks doesn't mean the creativity has stopped! In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, a creative outlet is needed now more than ever. With extra time on a lot of our hands, many people have been drawn to trying out some new practices and diving into more activities. "Creativity" doesn't have to be painting or pottery or knitting. Creativity can sometimes come in the form of problem-solving. And lucky for us, Ashley Morken and the crew at Unglued are creative in all senses of the word. Unglued has been able to keep Fargo-Moorhead (and beyond!) creating and inspired amidst the COVID-climate, thanks to such creative problem-solving. Camp or not, the spirit of craftiness lives on! 30 | AUGUST 2020 | FARGOMONTHLY.COM
Virtual Workshops The first out-of-the-box challenge for Unglued came with introducing virtual workshops. When the pandemic first began to hit our area, Unglued knew they needed to close their retail location, for the safety of their staff and community. But at the time, they already had a couple of workshops on their schedule that they were planning on hosting. "We started thinking if those could end up being virtual," said Morken. "We had never done that before, we had no idea what platform we would use! But we talked with the instructors and asked if they would be willing to do these virtually." Just a week after they closed their brick-and-mortar, they started hosting classes over Zoom. Supplies for the classes were mailed to participants and, "magically" everything ended up being amazing, according to Morken. "We saw the response on social media and how [the classes] gave people hope. They were thinking, 'we are going to be stuck at home – and no one knows for how long – but maybe we can still do stuff that feels sort of normal,'" she said. Workshop attendance has varied everywhere from intimate classes of four people all the way to almost 50 coming together for Viking Yoga. When they started hosting the virtual events, Unglued wasn't sure if the idea would stick or not. But now that they've seen the desire for them, they plan on hosting more, especially as the winter and holiday gift-giving seasons come around.
