Textiles

Textiles Workshops at Penland

 

Penland offers 1 to 8-week workshops taught by visiting instructors in our well-equipped studios. Class topics include tapestry weaving, sewing, knitting, quilting, surface design, natural dyes, shibori, basketry, and more. Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.

Register for Workshops
Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.

Summer scholarship information; summer scholarship application deadline is February 15.

Please read this note about our session schedules.

COVID-19 Safety Guidelines document.

TEXTILES FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Stephanie Santana
Printmaking on Textiles

In this workshop, we’ll transform fabric through relief printing, monoprinting, and screenprinting. With a focus on self-directed experimentation and play, students will develop their own motifs and textures by carving rubber blocks, manipulating paint on gelatin plates, and creating stenciled artwork for screenprinting. Students will leave with a small portfolio of textile studies for reference or to incorporate into other projects. All levels: beginners encouraged. Third-floor textiles studio.

Studio artist; founding member of Black Women of Print; teaching: Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia); recent exhibition: “A Contemporary Black Matriarchal Lineage in Printmaking” at Highpoint Center for Printmaking (Minneapolis); collections: Metropolitan Museum (NYC), Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Smith College Museum of Art (MA). 

stephaniesantana.com | @stephanie___santana

Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.

Stephanie Santana, A Watchful Eye, screenprint appliqué, monotype, relief printing, hand embroidery, acrylic, machine quilting, 23-3/4 x 29 inches (L), 21 x 25-1/2 inches (R)
Stephanie Santana, A Watchful Eye, screenprint appliqué, monotype, relief printing, hand embroidery, acrylic, machine quilting, 23-3/4 x 29 inches (L), 21 x 25-1/2 inches (R)
TEXTILES FALL CONCENTRATION
October 1 – November 10, 2023 (six weeks)
Eleanor Anderson
Stitch, Bead, Print

This workshop will touch on a wide range of fiber techniques, including sewing, embroidery, appliqué, piecework, beading, dyeing, and printing on fabric. We’ll also cover some structural techniques such as braided rugs and coil baskets. During the first half of the workshop, students will experiment with these techniques and create samples. This will be followed by projects that may draw on everything covered up to that point. Our practice will also be enriched by local field trips. This workshop will cater to beginning and experienced artists; everyone is encouraged to bring an open mind and a playful spirit of curiosity. All levels. 

Studio artist; workshop teaching: Penland, Pocosin Arts (NC); visiting professor: Colorado College, Cleveland Institute of Art, College for Creative Studies (Detroit); residencies: Penland Core Fellowship, Textile Arts Center (NYC), Women’s Studio Workshop (NY), The Tides Institute (ME), Haystack (ME), Praxis Fiber Workshop (Cleveland); Surface Design Association Outstanding Student Award; featured in American Craft

eleanoranderson.com | @eleanor_anderson_studio

Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.

Eleanor Anderson, Intuitive Cartography I, machine embroidery, piecework, hand-dyed canvas, 67 x 51 inches
Eleanor Anderson, Intuitive Cartography I, machine embroidery, piecework, hand-dyed canvas, 67 x 51 inches
PHOTO FALL WEEKEND SESSION
October 20–22, 2023
Betsy DeWitt
Chemistry and Cloth

This workshop will meld the worlds of photography and textiles by using the cyanotype process to make prints on cloth. We’ll generate images using photograms (a cameraless process) and digital negatives, mix cyanotype chemistry, coat the fabric, then expose and develop our images. Once we have our blue beauties on fabric, we’ll cover simple sewing, embroidery, and fabric manipulation techniques to alter and embellish them. This workshop will give students a photo process and textile techniques they can practice in their own homes. All levels. Photography studio. 

Former photo/drawing and painting studio coordinator at Penland; exhibitions: Turchin Center for the Visual Arts (NC), Asheville Area Arts Council (NC), Vermont Center for Photography, Soho Photo Gallery (NYC), Rebus Works (NC), Leeds Gallery at Earlham College (IN), St. Andrews Art Gallery (TN).

Enrollment for this workshop will begin on May 1. 

Betsy DeWitt, Snack Bag, cyanotype on cotton, 13 x 13 inches
Betsy DeWitt, Snack Bag, cyanotype on cotton, 13 x 13 inches
Betsy DeWitt, Dazzle, cyanotype on cotton, 10 x 8 inches
Betsy DeWitt, Dazzle, cyanotype on cotton, 10 x 8 inches
Textiles Spring Concentration
March 5 – April 28, 2024 (8 Weeks)
Andrea Donnelly
Weaving Alchemy

Delve deep into your personal artistic language through handwoven cloth and creating artwork with textile processes. After we cover basic weaving techniques we’ll be off to discover what magic we can make with the loom. We’ll experiment with nontraditional interventions such as unweaving and on-loom painting, explore the possibilities of immersion dyeing, and paint on thread and cloth. Off the loom, our woven cloth will become raw material as you learn to stabilize, layer, and assemble handwoven elements to create collage-style work. Come prepared to weave your booty off! All levels. Lower textiles studio. This workshop takes place in a second-floor walk-up studio that has partial access by a stair lift. 

Studio artist; teaching: Virginia Commonwealth University; exhibitions: Reynolds Gallery (VA), 1708 Gallery (VA), North Carolina Museum of Art, Mint Museum (NC), Museum Rijswijk (Netherlands); collections: North Carolina Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Capital One (VA), Dominion Energy (VA); representation: Reynolds Gallery (VA).

andreadonnelly.com | @andreadonnellyart

Scholarship application deadline is August 15.
Regular enrollment begins October 2.

Andrea Donnelly, Green Spaces, handwoven cotton, dye, pigment, PVA, cotton backing, 42-3/4 x 33-1/2 inches
Andrea Donnelly, Green Spaces, handwoven cotton, dye, pigment, PVA, cotton backing, 42-3/4 x 33-1/2 inches
Textiles – Spring Short Session
April 28 – May 4, 2024 (4 studio days)
Martha Clippinger
Intuitive Geometries

This quilting workshop will encourage students to use their intuition rather than planning and making a quilt with predetermined patterns and precise cutting. We’ll study our fabrics, noting their colors and textures, and consider potential arrangements. During the process of piecing, students will divide, add, split, shift, flip, and turn their compositions into new designs. The broken patterns and irregular symmetries of these intuitive geometries will produce quilts that are full of color, texture, and most of all, rhythm. Given the brevity of the session, students may want to create a wall hanging rather than a bed-sized quilt. All levels. Upper textiles studio. This workshop takes place in a third-floor walk-up studio that has partial access by a stair lift. 

Studio artist; teaching: Penland, Duke University (NC), Drew University (NJ), Fordham University (NY); collections: Columbus Museum (GA), Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (KS), Truist (NC); residencies/fellowships: Kohler Arts and Industry (WI), Fulbright (Mexico), MacDowell Colony (NH); representation: Elizabeth Harris Gallery (NYC), Hodges Taylor (NC).

marthaclippinger.com | @marthaclippinger

Scholarship application deadline is August 15.
Regular enrollment begins October 2.

Martha Clippinger, Spiral, machine-pieced and hand-quilted reclaimed fabrics, 69 x 62 inches
Martha Clippinger, Spiral, machine-pieced and hand-quilted reclaimed fabrics, 69 x 62 inches