Lewes footprint project steps forward

The sewing machines were humming. The ideas were clicking.

A small group of volunteers began assembling felt footprints into a tapestry that will be titled “The Path to a Greener and Sustainable Lewes.”

The footprint project is the brainchild of Lewes Planning Commissioner Amy Marasco, who also chairs the LPC’s Environmental Subcommittee.

Marasco and city staff set up tables at the Historic Lewes Farmers Market, National Night Out and other local events. They collected more than 500 footprints.

“The subcommittee created this project especially to reach out to the kids and young adults of the next generation, as they are the environmental stewards of our future,” Marasco said.

The footprints were different colors, but the messages were all green: protect the beaches, wildlife, trees, water, and invest in clean energy.

“The tapestry showcases over 500 voices from our community, sharing their vision, concerns and ideas on how Lewes might be greener and sustainable,” Marasco said.

Now, Marasco and the volunteers are taking the next step in the footprint project, turning the felt footprints into a tapestry that will hang in city hall in April to commemorate Earth Month.

Sarah Pavlik and Linda Dylla worked the sewing machines Feb. 27, stitching the footprints together.

It was really an improv session to figure out the size, composition, background and even if it should be called a quilt or a tapestry. 

“It’s not your grandmother’s quilt,” said Dylla.

“There might be some composition to it in terms of dark versus light, but we kind of don’t know yet,” Pavlik said. “We don’t actually know how big it’s going to be.”

Before they got to work, the footprints took up an entire wall of Pavlik’s art studio, about 8 feet tall and wide.

Pavlik is an accomplished artist who has been making quilts and fiber art for almost 25 years.

She will soon be jetting off to Germany, where her work will be part of two separate exhibitions this year. Both exhibitions will then travel throughout Europe and possibly the United States.

Pavlik was proud to show off one piece hanging in her Lewes studio. She titled it “Going Someplace and Not Looking Back,” which is a variation of a line from “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” a song by her favorite artist, Bruce Springsteen.

The footprint project is now going forward and looking to the future.

Marasco said the tapestry will be presented to Mayor and Council in April and will be hung in city hall.