Theater and quilters creating protective face masks
ALBANY, N.Y. » We’ve all seen a movie that takes place in World War II where a group of average citizens learn of a crisis and unite to pool resources and lead their side to victory over a common enemy.
Well, that film is presently acting out locally. Like the best moments of such films the actions are spontaneous and voluntary.
Due to COVID-19, there is a current shortage of protective face masks for people at hospitals and others in high risk jobs. Locally, individuals with sewing skills are creating masks in private spaces, and some institutions are providing equipment, raw material and guidance to help them in their task.
The star players are members of the theater community and area Quilting Guilds.
Like many terrific and unselfish ideas, this maskmaking task force seemed to have evolved and come together almost organically. The actions stem from a sense of community that evolved to fill a vacuum created by a desperate need.
One of those institutions is Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany. One day, Andrea Adamcyk, the assistant Costume Shop Manager at Capital Repertory was talking to a neighbor who is a doctor at Albany Med. The need for protective masks was brought up and the doctor asked her if she could make some for his staff. She talked to Amber Dutton, Cap Rep’s Costume Shop Supervisor, who immediately gave her full support to the project and agreed to help Adamcyk sew masks.
The two approached Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill, Capital Rep’s producing artistic director, to ask if they could use the theater’s industrial strength sewing machines at their individual homes to produce masks. She agreed immediately, and as a bonus offered them a bolt of muslin cotton that was in the costume shop.
She also put out a plea on Facebook for volunteers to help in the process. They needed specs, more sewers and creative ideas about distribution and a supply line. Mancinelli-Cahill says the response was “immediate and almost overwhelming.” She explains the response saying, “Theater people are by nature emotional healers who are also skilled and creative.” She adds, “More importantly, they don’t care about bureaucracy.” In no time, without formality, networks were formed and people began making contributions. Individuals worked alone but were in constant contact with each other.
Mancinelli-Cahill refuses to take credit for the almost immediate unification of the theater’s sewing community. “I just happen to have a large Facebook page,” she says. Indeed she thinks of herself as merely a spoke in a large wheel, not the hub of the wheel. She is, however, quick to hand-off credit to Kathleen Morris, the wife of Proctors CEO Philip Morris, who she believes is the hub of the wheel.
Mancinelli-Cahill explains that Morris acts as command central in disseminating information. “She is president of Quilt Schenectady, the Schenectady Guild of quilters. She immediately realized the cotton most quilters used was the same that was needed for masks. And who sees better than a quilter? She got to work organizing her guild and soon she spread the word amongst all area chapters.
Area quilters are now. making massive numbers of masks to donate to area institutions. She has also been invaluable in getting needed information to the theatre sewers, when they need help.”
When reached by telephone, Morris also denied being the central figure in the mask-making movement. “It’s all about community,” she said. “So many people are donating their time, skilled labor and paying for their own materials, it would be wrong to single out any one person for credit. If something good is to come out of this crisis, it is the way so many good people are doing good for so many other people.”
Although Morris expresses pride in what quilters and theater people have accomplished in a relatively short time, she acknowledges with every success a new problem arises. She points to the national shortage of ¾ inch elastic to secure the masks to the face. She says she just purchased a bulk lot of elastic which is enough for 32,000 masks. Now the group is trying to both identify who needs what, and how to get it to them.
Distribution to where the masks are needed is another issue that is being solved. “Right now we are making masks. That’s what is important. Once we have the product, other issues can be addressed,” she says.
There is no concrete number of how many masks are being produced. But as Morris says, “There is no limit to the need; we’re just going to make as many as we can.”
Sandra Boynton is another mask maker from the world of theater. She estimates she has created about 600 masks, which she calls “a drop in the bucket.” She has been in touch with area hospitals and is using personal contacts to get product in the hands of those who need them. She is in touch with local hospitals who say they have need for unlimited quantities. She points out that hospitals are not the only places in need of masks. Indeed, she takes pride in providing a former student with 30 masks. He is a volunteer EMT and was a former student to whom she taught theater at Schenectady County Community College.
Boynton’s work perhaps defines the network of sewers. She came to the idea of making masks on her own. When she saw MancinelliCahill’s post, she called for information. She was referred to Morris. Beyond solving Boynton’s problems, Morris put her in contact with two other theater friends who are also making masks. She, Connie Rowe Rauhauser and Debbie Lummis have formed a team that offers help, suggestions and support to each other. “We are in constant contact,” say Boynton.
It is an example of what Mancinelli-Cahill calls the “collective unconscious,” which explains how so many individuals come to the same idea about the same time. The Boynton group of three is part of the Capital Rep group, which is part of the larger quilter community. She expands on the World War II film analogy, using the film “Dunkirk” as an example.
“The mass evacuation that saved thousands and thousands of lives couldn’t have happened unless ship owners of every size and shape acted individually, as well as part of a group. They were needed and they showed up.
“That’s what’s happening in the war against COVID-19.”