MARY LAUREL TRUE

Interviewed by Cyn Collins

Residence: Seward Neighborhood
Occupation: Experiential Educator. Associate Director for the Center for Servicework and Learning at Augsburg College
Organizations/Affiliations: Member of St. Martin’s Community and Women Against Military Madness member. Involved for 12 years with Wednesday Night Out Program of Trinity Congregation, community building dinners for families in Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

SSP: Tell me about your artwork .
MLT: I’m a wearable artist. I love clothes because dressing is an everyday art—it’s public because you wear it, and it’s private because you design it, and its practical because we all have to get dressed. I view it as “personal architecture.”
It’s really fun because you can create a work of art every day. You can recreate yourself, each day—you can convey messages about who you are. You can cheer people up and catch people’s attention and get them thinking about something.

SSP: How did you get started with your love of fashion and making it into wearable art?
MLT: All my life since I was a little girl I loved clothes. I was the oldest of six kids—so we didn’t have much money. My mother got great gems for very little in secondhand shops. When I had birthdays I didn’t want toys—I wanted dresses instead.

People recognize I have a flair for clothing. I enjoy it as an art form. I like interior design, too. Running parallel to that is social justice.

SSP: Tell me more about your involvement with social justice and how it ties in with your art.

MLT: When I was younger my house was a hub for anti-Vietnam War activists ... famous writers, poets ... Dorothy Day was one. In high school I worked on the equal rights amendment and anti-nucluear movement in the ’70s. I once got arrested with my dad in Massachusetts at GTE—they were building weapons.
Fashion was kind of frivolous then, so I had this kind of weird schizophrenic attitude about loving fashion and being concerned with social justice in the world. It was a relief and a great joy to marry fashion and social justice work. It happened in my 40s. I encourage people to be creative early on.

SSP: How did you begin making wearable art?
MLT: I saw a wearable artist’s work at Augsburg, by a Metropolitan State professor. I took a class with her in wearable art at Metro State. A professor at Augsburg saw my work. She said she would take my work to a committee. She didn’t tell them it was mine, because they knew me, and she wanted an objective view of the artwork ... My work was always undone. One piece in class was my homework. I called it “Dressed to Kill.” My show was called Wearable Resistance. The show was up around the time the second war in Iraq began. I was distraught by the killing.

SSP: Tell me about some of your other pieces ...
MLT: There is “Peace is Golden.” There are shiny gold pants and a black corset with peace studs and Cadillac-looking birds. I designed one for the Nobel Peace Prize forum at Augsburg in 2005. We invited five women, including Mary Robinson who was president of Ireland at the time. I made a necklace with five charms each with a photo of the women’s faces. The corset was made of coasters from the Peace forum.

SSP: What are you working on currently?
MLT: I’m protesting the war any way I can think of, formally and informally. I worked on the “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit in the fall. I’m going to protests, and work with groups protesting the war. I’m supporting candidates who are willing to work really hard to get us out of Iraq.
I’m working on an Eco-Fashion exhibit at the Living Green Expo May 6. I’m also giving a talk on “Fashion as Art” at St. Martin’s Table, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. Next year I want to work on a radical fashion show—designing fashion for famous activists and have them wear work and talk about their peace and justice work while walking the runway.

SSP: What are your hopes for the future with your art?
MLT: There are a lot of wearable artists in the Twin Cities. My dream would be to work with more costumers and do an internship. I want to design an anti-landmine outfit and continue to find dramatic ways to resist the U. S. Empire building. Right now, creativity is one of the most important parts of the movement. It lifts people up. I’m inspired by the Radical Cheerleaders, and was involved with Billionaires for Bush, and Code Pink which was also dress-related.

SSP: What do you like about living in Seward?
MLT: I think Seward is one of the best communities on earth. There are more progressive, creative and committed people per square inch than any place I’ve ever known or been to.
I love that its working class and diverse and its on the Mississippi River, the lifeblood of this country. I love the peace signs that go up and that people stick their necks out with their political views here. It now has some of the best music in town with the Eagle’s Club and the Hexagon. It also has one of the best vegetarian restaurants in town, the Birchwood Café—I’m vegetarian.
It’s also home to one of the most important political voices in the country, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. I think he’s right on target.