Thanks to the Wond’ry’s Fiber Arts Build Lab workshops over the years, the Wond’ry dinos have become an iconic and loved creation for participants to make. These Wond’ry dinos have taken on new life through a global collaboration spearheaded by Alexandra Sargent Capps, Director of the Fiber Arts Build Lab, Andreea Gattman, Fulbright Humphrey Alumna from Vanderbilt University, and a team of international educators and artists. These denim dinosaurs, crafted in the Fiber Arts Build Lab, have now traveled the world, playing a central role in a multi-year initiative titled “Go Green, or Go Extinct.”
Utilizing upcycled materials, the Wond’ry dino workshops were originally developed as an exercise in creative expression and sustainability. This simple and fun workshop has now evolved into a foundation for an international collaboration that began at Vanderbilt and expanded to Helsinki, Finland. The project involved students, educators, and artists from multiple countries, using fabric arts to explore themes of adaptation, evolution, climate change, community, and belonging, through reflective exercises.
"We never expected that something as simple as denim dinosaurs would become a vehicle for global engagement," said Alexandra Sargent Capps. "But through this project, we've seen how creative engagement with textiles can break barriers and connect people across cultures."
The initiative took root with a Visions group activity around cutting and drawing denim dinos, which served as a fun, community building exercise that students found removed their fear around working with fabric. Several of these dinos traveled to Finland, to provide inspiration and create global engagement at a workshop during the 2024 Helsinki Design Week, a yearly festival program that includes exhibitions, workshops, open houses, seminars, and fashion shows from participants around the world.
During this design week, a number of participants—including sixth graders, university students, urban sketchers, and researchers—enhanced these fabric and denim dinosaurs to visually express their perspectives on environmental issues. The interactive nature of the project fostered cross-cultural dialogue, emphasizing the power of creativity in sustainability efforts.
The dinos even traveled further, appearing in Bucharest, Romania for Dambovita Delivery (an urban art festival). And in Helsinki and and the Finnish Lapland, schools, visitors, artists, and young families have continued to engage with and participate in the process of reflection, sense-making, and co-creating the dinos to reimagine urban realities and to act locally as global citizens.
"What I love most about this project is that it’s not just about art—it’s that art is a gentle translator between worlds, engaging people in critical dialogue around surroundings and sustainability," said Andrea Gattman. "The dinos have become a symbol of how small, creative actions can lead to big, meaningful conversations."
"It’s amazing to see how a simple idea can grow into something that resonates with so many people," said Alexandra Sargent Capps. "Every stitch, every drawing, every addition to this project represents a voice in a larger conversation about our planet’s future."
As the project continues to evolve, it serves as a powerful reminder that through creativity, collaboration, and community engagement, we can inspire real change in people’s mindsets in so many unique ways, even through a stuffed dino.