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Class Description:

In this 6-week class, students will be introduced to weaving beyond the loom through techniques including book, card, and tapestry weaving. Students will learn how to construct simple, portable, “looms” using easy-to-find materials that can be adapted to any circumstance. Through each technique, students will learn about the basic elements of woven cloth and explore the design variations and possibilities offered by each weaving approach. The course will engage with the many examples of woven works from the museum’s Indigenous Arts of North America and Textile and Fashion Collections – many of which were created using similar techniques to those we will be using in class – as well as the work of contemporary weaving artists such as Sheila Hicks, Karolina Gnatowski, and Colorado-based artist Steven Frost.

What to Expect:

This class will include a mix of in-class demonstration, skill sharing, and making as well as group gallery visits and discussion. The compact and mobile formats of the looms will allow us to take our work beyond the classroom to draw inspiration from the galleries and the museum’s architecture while connecting with themes of space, place, and portability. Through observing works in the collection and learning new skills, we will take time to reflect on how weaving techniques are engaged across cultures and textile traditions, our positions as learners and artists, and our own relationships with textile histories. Students will leave the class with three sample weavings along with their handmade loom components.

Timeline:

Week 1 – Introductions + Book Weaving

• Introductions and class overview

• Lecture/demonstration: Intro to weaving

• Demonstration/activity: Tapestry weaving on a book loom

• Demonstration/Activity: Basic weave structures

• For next time: bring backstrap materials

Week 2 – Backstrap Weaving

• Re-introductions, questions/reflections from last class

• Demonstration/activity: Cutting off and finishing book weavings (15 mins)

• Slide lecture: Contemporary weaving artists + Backstrap Weaving

• Demonstration/Activity: Setting up the backstrap loom

• For next time: optional reading

Week 3 – Backstrap Weaving + Gallery Visit

• Gallery visits to woven textile objects

• Demonstration/activity: Weaving on a backstrap loom in museum space

• For next week: Bring materials for card weaving

Week 4 – Card Weaving

• Lecture/demonstration: Tablet weaving

• Prepare cards and card looms

• For next week: Optional reading

Week 5 – Card Weaving + Gallery Visit

• Welcome and gather

• Group reading discussion

• Demonstration/activity: Card weaving

• Gallery visit

Week 6 – Card Weaving + Conclusion

• Card weaving in museum space

• Return to classroom, finishing card weavings

• Share work and wrap up

Class Make-up Day Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $50-70.

We partner with Meininger’s for local shopping, purchase a kit of your required materials online for in-store pickup, or purchase the items individually.

Educator:

Etta Sandry is an artist, educator, and facilitator currently based in Boulder, Colorado. Rooted in weaving, her interdisciplinary work is situated in the expanded material practices field between craft, contemporary art, and creative research. She has exhibited her work in the United States and Canada and was the 2022 Experimental Weaver in Residence at the Unstable Design Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder where she now conducts research as a PhD student. Etta completed her MFA in the Fibre & Material Practices program at Concordia University where she also held positions teaching fiber structures and critical thinking & writing. She has over ten years of experience working as an organizer and administrator in arts communities, including roles as a board member at the artist-run centre articule in Montreal and as a volunteer staff in ACRE Residency’s fiber studio in Wisconsin.

www.ettasandry.com