Colorado teen shows her pride through the art of balloon twisting
LAFAYETTE, Colo. — At six years old, Casey Rosenberg had a hard time with balloons.
“Every time I got a balloon, it would pop almost immediately because I wasn’t careful … and then I would cry and it was a whole thing,” she remembered.
Four years later, she found an old bag of twisting balloons and decided to turn her luck around.
“I got into balloon twisting because I’m stubborn,” she said.
Through YouTube videos and online guidance, Rosenberg taught herself a new hobby: balloon twisting.
Many might recognize the hobby from fairs, carnivals or birthday parties where an individual, known as a balloon artist, twists tube-shaped balloons into the shapes of dogs, cats, other animals or even clothes and other larger projects.
Now 17 years old, Rosenberg is a practiced balloon artist who works on projects big and small, but one project in particular has had the biggest impact.
One October, Rosenberg chose to celebrate LGBTQ History Month by twisting a series of pride flags for various identities.
“I learned a lot [from the project]; every time I posted a flag or put it on my website it was accompanied by some information and resources in case someone wanted to learn more,” she said.
In twisting flags and researching different sexual orientations and gender identities, Rosenberg learned more about the LGBTQ+ community, and also about herself.
“In that process I found my own identity. I’ve always known I wasn’t straight, but I wasn’t sure what to call it,” she said. “I’m leaning more towards bisexual, but we’ll see.”
In addition to learning things about herself, Rosenberg encourages everyone to take the time to learn about others, too.
“I’ve met people who definitely don’t support the [LGBTQ+] community and it can be really harmful and dangerous,” she said. “I think if people knew more about it maybe they wouldn’t be so fearful.”
When she first started, she said each flag could take over four hours to complete, but now that she’s been practicing for six years, her artform is a chance to relax and listen to audiobooks or music while she works.
In 2018, Rosenberg turned her passion into a business, and she now performs balloon twisting at parties and other events and can be booked through her website.
Rosenberg hopes the educational work she does has an impact, and more than anything wants to encourage others to put in the work to learn more about things they don’t understand.
“Generally try to understand people … learn about other communities and respect people,” she said.
Corbett Stevenson is a journalism intern at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at corbettstevenson@rmpbs.org
Alexis Kikoen is a senior producer at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at alexiskikoen@rmpbs.org.