240 Ingrid Roze: Public Service: A Tapestry Woven Throughout Her Life

Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

Quote: Art has always been my friend. Today I participate in ‘Yarn Bombing’ projects.

Ingrid Roze is a multi-faceted woman with many interests. Her parents came from Bulgaria and Latvia. Each found their way to Venezuela in 1948 where they met and married. It was there that Ingrid was born and remained until she was 12 when the family moved to the United States. She became a child psychologist. and primarily worked with Spanish- speaking communities and Arabic and Moorish cultures.

Instead of private practice, Ingrid chose to work in public service, mostly in schools. She found a profession that she adored, becoming a psychologist because that's how she always thought. The insight was there before she chose psychology.

Art was always Ingrid’s friend. She went to the High School of Art and Design and returned to tapestry, knitting and crocheting after she retired from her profession.

Today, Ingrid participates in yarn bombing - crocheting roses for national and international projects on women’s reproductive rights and women’s freedom. Two examples are: “Roses to Stop Violence against Women” which is mounting 1 rose on each tree in the longest avenue in Mexico. Another, called the Liberty Crochet mural, is an image of the Statue of Liberty - substitutes the torch she’s holding for a uterus with the title: Freedom to Choose. Ingrid, herself, posts crochet hearts everywhere she travels because “it throws a net of love over the world. Only love can drive out darkness Only love can drive out hate. Hate cannot drive out hate”.