Local artist Maria Molteni of New Craft Artists in Action (NCAA) will discuss her art practice and craftivist collective's on-going public art project, Net Works, and demonstrate how we can create our own basketball nets through hand knitting! NCAA uses instructions that are holistic and approachable, hoping to empower and inspire a new generation of crafters: all you need to begin your own net is yarn, scissors, and your hands! No needles required!

Led by prolific local artist Maria Molteni, The New Craft Artists in Action collective (NCAA) is a “Craftivist collective that addresses public space, collaboration, feminism, and interdisciplinary learning. The collective assembles hand-made basketball nets for abandoned hoops, usually via knit and crochet, to build relationships between artists, athletes, and neighbors."  The collective created the project Net Works which included a one-of-a-kind book of net patterns and writings on the influence of craft and athletics in various urban settings: Learn How to Craft Handmade Nets for Empty Basketball Hoops in Your Neighborhood.

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Maria Molteni (she/they) Using grassroots & DIY creative projects as tools, Molteni's work has been replicated internationally by organizers and educators alike. In the last several years she’s worked with hundreds of youth & teens from around Massachusetts and across the US. Together they have realized elaborate museum & public installations that address social justice in the context of community basketball, the global textile industry, ecological social systems like honeybee hives and more. The New Craft Artists in Action collective, which she founded in 2010 have completed numerous local, national and international projects collaborating with collectives Queer Sport, Split (Croatia), Kosmologym (Denmark), The Office of Culture & Design, Manila (Philippines) and the Design Studio for Social Intervention (Boston, MA).