PRINTAuxvasse artisan teaches rug-hooking class at Missouri Girls Town
Edwina Prinster shares historical craft with young women
June 24, 2010 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Edwina Prinster’s blue eyes light up as she talks about her passion for rug hooking. Her hands are nimble and quick as one grasps a strand of wool. The other holds the hook, and together they work to pull wool through a design. A smile forms when she starts to explain where this hobby has taken her.
Where: Auxvasse
Cost: $10 per hour
Call: 254-3542
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Driving home to Auxvasse about six years ago, Prinster noticed a sign for Missouri Girls Town. Three years and many rugs later, she called Girls Town and volunteered to teach rug-hooking classes there.
Girls Town, a residential treatment center for abused and neglected girls, provides counseling, schooling, vocational training and recreational outlets. “Most of our girls were taught to deal with anger and stress through aggression,” says Elise White, the facility’s public relations and development coordinator. “Recreation provides a positive outlet to express themselves.”
Prinster became interested in rug hooking in 1992 after visiting a national rug-hooking convention in St. Louis. At the time, she was a 50-year-old empty nester and finished with her life as a model and a stay-at-home mom.
Prinster has volunteered at Girls Town for three years, and her work provides a creative outlet for girls to express themselves. She teaches class once a week and provides materials for the girls to use.
“It’s like investing your care into anything,” Prinster says. “Down the road, you’ll never know what their memories will be or what the sense of accomplishment will mean to them. I want them to feel good about themselves.”
Because the girls come from abusive situations, many don’t have adults to look up to. “People like Edwina may be the first positive female role model a child has met here,” White says.
Randy Wybrant, recreation director at Girls Town, often sits in on Prinster’s class. He describes Prinster as a patient, talented role model. “I think the cool thing about Edwina is her consistency from year to year,” he says. He also enjoys seeing the girls cherish what they create through such a time-consuming activity.
The process of hooking a rug is long, and some of Prinster’s projects have taken more than a year to complete. The slow process doesn’t bother her. “The focus and ‘painting’ with the wool — it’s just so absorbing,” she says. “I can sit and work on it for hours. Time flies when you’re working on it, creating.”
The first thing she teaches the girls is how to make a hooked purse. Two girls who really have a knack for the craft are Tanya, 15, and Shelby, 16.* Tanya says she’s working on her first full rug and plans to auction it off to raise money for Haiti. Shelby has also caught on to the hobby and is working on her first rug. “When you get the whole project done, it’s amazing knowing you’ve done it all by yourself,” Shelby says.
Prinster also teaches classes at her in-home studio. One of her newest students is Dawn White, 48, who’s learning to hook for the first time. “She’s a wonderful teacher, and I couldn’t ask for anything better to do,” says White, who has watched one of Prinster’s classes at Girls Town. “The girls really seem to enjoy it. She gives them something they almost could use as a career if they wanted to.”
Prinster’s joy in the girls’ creative success is obvious. “I have just fallen in love with these little girls,” Prinster says. “It’s such a tender feeling to care for them and give them something.” She gets excited when she sees their finished products. “You should see the looks on their faces when they finish,” she says. “Their faces light up.”
*Editor’s note: Tanya and Shelby are residents of Missouri Girls Town and therefore wards of the state. To protect their privacy, we’re referring to them by first names only, though our reporter talked to them in person and our executive editor has verified their identities.
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