The events posted here are of interest to fiber artists living in the ANWG region. These events are sponsored by nonprofit organizations. To place an event email. Due to limited space and the great number of fiber-related activities, the events that will be posted here will be those that are determined to be of interest to a large segment of the ANWG region.

Member Guild Sponsored Events

3rd annual fiber festival WIFFFS, Rain or Shine, Whidbey Island Fabulous Fall Fiber Festival, September 18, 2010, 9-430 Saturday, @ Paradise Found Fiber Farm, Clinton WA, Details on http://paradisefoundfiber.com/

The Heritage Weavers & Spinner will be hosting the 2011 HWSDA Conference. The conference will be held at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Calgary, AB. Preconference – June 7 – 9thth, 2011 and the Conference June 10 - 12th, 2011.

Regional Events

Gigantic Weavers & Spinners Destash Sale
Saturday Sept 18th -- 9 am – 4 pm
First Baptist Church - 1202 Lawrence St - Port Townsend, WA - Hosted by Peninsula Weavers Guild
Lots of weaving tools, equipment, and books - fiber, yarn and rag strips –
Looms - spinning wheel - carders - warping reel - complete papermaking studio; tools, equipment, journals, and papermaking fibers. 
Also happening this weekend is the 2nd Annual Olympic Fiber Farm Tour.

HWSDA - Handweavers, Spinners, Dyers of Alberta. The Heritage Weavers & Spinner will be hosting the 2011 HWSDA Conference. The conference will be held at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Preconference – June 7 – 9thth, 2011 and the Conference June 10 - 12th, 2011. Website

National & International Events

Convergence 2012,TBA

Classes and Workshops

Events of Interest

Northwest Basket Weavers presents Regional Basket Day in West Richland
An Opportunity to Make a Basket and Learn About Basketry
Saturday, September 11, 2010  9am - 5pm
White Bluffs Center, 4034 D W Van Giesen, West Richland, WA 99353
Several BASKETRY workshops.  Instructors are subsidized by Northwest Basket Weavers.  Participant pay a nominal registration fee including lunch and a materials fee.  This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy a FUN workshop!  There are still spaces available in all classes.  You can register the day of the event, but pre-registration is suggested to ensure you get the class you prefer.  For full workshop details and registration information, please visit our website at http://www.nwbasketweavers.org/.  Bring your family and friends and enjoy a fun and sunny weekend in the Tri-Cities area!

WEAVING HOPE: A FUNDRAISING EVENT
The Q’ente Textile Revitalization Society and Mosqoy: Sacred Valley Youth Fund jointly present an evening of Peruvian Fusion hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and sale of fair trade hand-woven Peruvian textiles. The evening will feature keynote speaker, renowned ethnobotanist and recipient of the Order of Canada, Dr. Nancy Turner. All proceeds support educational and textile revitalization projects in rural Peru.

The event will take place Sept 16 from 7-10pm at Glendale Gardens (505 Quayle Rd, Victoria, BC). Tickets are $50 and are available at Glendale Gardens, Ten Thousand Villages (1976 Oak Bay Ave), The Green Party Community Resource Centre (247 Beacon Ave, Sidney BC), or online.

For further information, please contact Sonya Rokosh (Email) or visit our websites: http://www.qentesociety.org or http://www.mosqoy.org/
Sarah Confer, Vice-President, Q'ente Textile Revitalization Society
http://www.qentesociety.org/  sarita@qentesociety.org
phone: Vancouver: (604) 809.7014 - Peru: 011 (51) 84 984426322

NATIONAL ALPACA FARM DAYS - September 25-26, 10am-5 pm
A FREE fun-filled autumn family event with free beverages snacks. Goodie bags for kids under 12. Fiber demos, meet and greet alpacas, alpaca products and bagged fiber for sale. Off- street parking and handicapped parking available. Website
Fran Thomas
Maketso Alpaca Ranch
18531 SE 224th Street
Kent, WA 98042
Ranch - 425-413-6946, Fax - 425-413-9276, Cell - 425-413-6944, On Star - 206-919-1842

First-Ever Exhibition of International Hand-Woven Textile Collection Opens October 2010
Weaving Heritage: Textile Masterpieces from the Burke Collection
Oct. 2, 2010 – Feb. 27, 2011
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, WA

Weaving is a mission, weaving is a labor of love, and it is a passion. – Chief Janice George and Willard Joseph, Salish weavers, 2010

Seattle – The Burke Museum, this year celebrating its 125th anniversary, has been collecting international textiles for over a century and holds a permanent collection of over 2,000 hand-woven pieces. The Burke textile collection has been widely used for research, but most of these works have never before been on public display. This fall, for the first time, 130 of the most beautifully designed and culturally significant textile masterpieces from the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands will be displayed in a new Burke Museum exhibit.

About the exhibit
The exhibit, Weaving Heritage: Textile Masterpieces from the Burke Collection, is the first major exhibition of the museum's international textile collection. Weaving Heritage will draw on the expertise of master weavers and cultural leaders from the communities represented in the exhibit to tell the story of this increasingly endangered art form. 
Weaving Heritage will provide museum visitors with a rare opportunity to see outstanding examples of traditional textile arts from Indonesia, Micronesia, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, China, Tibet, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Native American tribal groups including the Salish, Tlingit, Haida, Navajo, and Hopi.

The textiles will be complemented with examples of traditional looms, weaving tools, and touchable materials. A hands-on area will allow visitors to try simple weaving activities, handle fiber samples, and learn about weaving techniques through video and other resources.

Protecting the future of traditional weaving
For many thousands of years, people all over the world have woven animal and plant fibers into cloth. Hand-woven textiles are closely identified with cultural identity, ethnic pride, technical artistic mastery, and community history. However, in the past 150 years, factors such as the introduction of cheap, machine-made textiles, changes in the availability of traditional materials, the influence of foreign fashions, and economic and political strife in many nations have threatened the survival of hand-woven textile traditions. 

In recent decades, some communities have witnessed a resurgence of their weaving heritage, as national governments provide support for training programs, microcredit and financing programs encourage small business development, and community weaving associations use the Internet to market their textiles and reach an international clientele.

Curator Emeritus Dr. James Nason, as lead curator for the project, comments that, “Weaving Heritage will offer the public a rare insight into the demanding nature of this endangered art, and the extraordinary quality and artistic beauty of the work of indigenous master weavers, while also expanding the Burke’s outreach to tribal and ethnic audiences.”

Related events
Throughout the duration of the exhibit, museum visitors will have opportunities to watch and talk with contemporary master weavers from a variety of indigenous cultures and learn about weaving and dyeing techniques, beginning with the opening weekend of the exhibition. Check Website for updates to the event calendar.  

Exhibit Opening Day
Sat., Oct. 2, 10 am – 4 pm
Come to the opening day celebration of Weaving Heritage, featuring guided exhibit tours, hands-on weaving activities for families, and an indigo dye demonstration with Seattle's Earthues.

Guatemalan Backstrap Weaving Demonstrations with Master Weaver Maria Cuc Jiatz
Fri., Oct. 22, 10 am – 3 pm, Sat., Oct. 23, 12 – 3pm & Sun., Oct. 24, 10 am – 3 pm
Mayan weaver Maria Cuc Jiatz is dedicated to passing along the art of backstrap loom weaving to future generations. On three days in October, meet Maria and watch as she demonstrates this traditional Mayan weaving technique.

Guatemalan Backstrap Weaving Master Class with Maria Cuc Jiatz
Sat. Oct. 23, 9 – 11 am
Learn the backstrap weaving process from start to finish on a traditional Mayan backstrap loom. Cost: $40, plus $30 loom and supply fee payable directly to instructor. Class size is limited. To register, Email or call 206-543-9681.

Weaving Heritage is being created in collaboration with Coast Salish, Mayan, Tibetan, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Indonesian cultural experts. Major sponsorship for this exhibition has been provided by 4Culture, Quest for Truth Foundation, and University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, Southeast Asia Center. Additional support has been provided by Kym Aughtry, Jiji Foundation, Muckleshoot Charity Fund, John and Joyce Price, Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund, and OneFamily Foundation.

Link to this release: http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/info/press_release.php?ID=221

The Burke Museum is located on the University of Washington campus, at the corner of NE 45th St and 17th Ave NE. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm daily, and until 8 pm on first Thursdays. Admission: $9.50 general, $7.50 senior, $6 student/ youth. Admission is free to children 4 and under, Burke members, UW students, faculty, and staff. Admission is free to the public on the first Thursday of each month. Prorated parking fees are $15 and partially refundable upon exit if paid in cash. Call 206-543-5590 or visit Website. The Burke Museum is an American Association of Museums accredited museum.

Contact: MaryAnn Barron Wagner, Communications Director, 206.543.9762, Email
OR Julia Swan, Public Relations Coordinator, 206.616.7538, Email

Museum of Contemporary Craft Website Exhibits, Tours, programs

Call for Entries or Proposals

17th Annual Benefit:   Juried Show and Sale of Wearable Art - CALL FOR ENTRIES

The YWCA RAGS Guild announces a call for entries for its 17th annual juried wearable art show and sale. The show will take place March 10–13, 2011, at Mercedes-Benz of Tacoma. Open to all artists working in all media of wearable art garments, fashion accessories, and jewellery. Two entry types with non-refundable fees:

Gallery - competition of one-of-a-kind artist made pieces ($15 per entry, up to 3 entries)
Marketplace - boutique-style sale ($35 entry fee)

All initial entries are juried by digital images. Accepted gallery entries are judged for award from actual works in late February 2011. Cash prizes to gallery winners in garments, accessories, jewellery, and best of show. As a benefit for domestic violence programs of the YWCA Pierce County, RAGS retains 33% of sales in Marketplace; 40% of sales in Gallery.

Deadline for submitting digital images is December 12, 2010. For prospectus and entry information, visit http://www.ywca.org/site/apps/lk/content2.aspx?c=dkLQK9MNIoG&b=240426 or send an SASE to Artist Coordinator, YWCA RAGS Guild, 405 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402. For more information, call the RAGS hotline at 253-272-4181, ext. 352.
Contact: Kristy Gledhill, RAGS marketing Chair, 206/375-7503, Email

Sebastopol Center for the Arts invites artists to submit work to Innovations in Fiberart V Open to all artists living in the United States. Work submitted for this exhibition envisions thought-provoking, unconventional and innovative fiber artworks expressed in a range of materials. Organic, inorganic, as well as recycled materials can be used. Works can be 2- or 3-dimensional, and of multiple techniques. The exhibition opens with a reception on Thursday, October 28, and runs through December 4, 2010.

Juror, Melissa Leventon, founding partner of Curatrix Group museum consultants, is a specialist in European and American textiles. She was formerly Curator-in-Charge of Textiles at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and has authored many exhibition catalogues, books, and journals. She teaches fashion history and theory at California College of the Arts. Melissa has been a consultant to numerous institutions, and currently is working with The Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok. She received her BA from Brandeis Univ. and her MA in Art History/History of Dress from the Courtauld Inst. of Art, Univ. of London.

Hand-delivered entries will be accepted at SCA on Monday, October 11, between 3 and 6 pm. Entries by jpegs on CD must arrive by 5 pm, on or by that date. Please see prospectus for complete guidelines.
Entry fees are: SCA members, $10 per entry or 3 entries for $25 (membership is $40 annually), Nonmembers, $15 per entry, or 3 entries for $40. Maximum, 3 entries per artist. Awards: $200 Best of Show; $50 Coordinators Award, and Merit Awards.

For a prospectus send SASE to Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Fiberart, 6780 Depot Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472, or go to Website, or Email. For information call SCA at 707/829-4797.  Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday 1 – 4 pm.  Admission is free.

Fiber & Book Art (West Coast) September 1 — October 1, 2010. The Escondido Arts Partnership will present their first juried Fiber & Book Art exhibition.   Fiber & Book Artists working in California, Oregon and Washington are encouraged to submit work to the show.  Fiber work can include paper, felt, fabric, yarn, cloth, plant or other organic materials.   75% of the piece should be fiber. The Escondido Municipal Gallery is located in the beautiful downtown Escondido historic district.

EXHIBITION DATES AND HOURS
September 1 —October 1, 2010
Reception: September 11, 5:30-8:00 pm
Awards presentation 6:30pm at the reception
Gallery hours are Tuesday 11-5pm, Wed. thru
Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm

LOCATION
Escondido Municipal Gallery, 262 E. Grand Avenue
Escondido, CA 92025. http://www.escondidoarts.org/

PARKING
You may park along Grand Ave. or in the municipal lot behind the gallery and bring your work through the front entrance.

Call to Artists 2010 LOCAL 14 Art Show & Sale invites all Northwest women artists to apply to our 43rd annual show to be held at the World Forestry Center, October 14- October 17, 2010. (Please note that this year the show will be held at a date 2 weeks later than usual.) The annual LOCAL 14 Women’s Art Show and Sale represents the artwork of approximately 95 women artists from throughout the Pacific Northwest. The original goal of the founders in 1968 was to promote women artists, and offer the public an attractive mix of well crafted, high quality and original artwork. The concept has not changed over the years and the show has become a highly anticipated, very successful and well attended event and one of the premier fine art and craft shows in Portland. Artist applications will be available on Jan 15, 2010 at Webiste. Applications are due by midnight, March 8th, 2010. More information available at Website or call 503-241-8939.