There's some great suggestions for learning to weave in the bay area, but a few details are missing. The following is by no means a comprehensive look at weaving classes!
Susan Spaulding used to teach at the Richmond Art Center years back and was fantastic. When she died about 2 years ago, the Richmond Art Center started a memorial fund to help support weaving classes. Current instructor is Jan Langdon who is a fantastic, contemporary textile artist, exhibiting her work locally at several recent shows.
Lou Grantham teaches the Walnut Creek Adult Education weaving classes and is one of the pioneers that reinvigorated weaving as a craft (not home ec home textile production) in the 60's and 70's when the Bay Area became the home of textile arts and art to wear. Interweave Press had several of their early magazine editors living in the East Bay and UC Berkeley was
generating some very creative artists.. Lou also teaches out of her home studio in Oakland, not too far from the Grand Lake Theater, under the name of San Francisco Fiber.
Glimakra Studios in Berkeley, mentioned by several others, is more a small studio with teaching and help. From what I've heard from weaving students there, it becomes more like an open studio than a scheduled class once students are experienced enough to be on their own and trusted with a key to the facility.
Peggy Ostercamp did retire from teaching at SF City College this last Spring, but continues to write and teach out of her studio in Marin. city College has several weaving instructors and all are well worth taking if you have the time to devote a full semester to the class time. My work schedule never permitted it. City College classes are by far the best
deal financially, but not optimum time for working adults.
For true academic level weaving, College of Arts (aka CCAC) Oakland campus has a well established textile department with some great facilities and great instructors. This will not be weaving by recipe! but may also be more expensive than most of us can afford.
San Francisco State has an excellent but not often mentioned textile program. The chair of the department is an exceptional weaver
As paid positions for weaving instructors are very few, the weavers who are chosen for academic jobs tend to be very very good.
Other weaving classes or workshops are hosted by Robin Lynde / Meridian Studios, Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Mendocino Art Center, and my'employer' CNCH, Conference of Northern California Handweavers. I
get paid a small stipend to edit their newsletters - CiNCH Notes 3xyear and am right now compiling a list of textile related events for the fall calendar. check their web page (we're working on making it better) at
www.cnch.org
If you'd like to hang with hundreds of weavers, plan on attending the CNCH conference next May 2-4 in Sacramento. There will be many short weaving related programs during the conference and 2 or 3 day workshops May 5-7. The hotel conference will have cheap rooms if you're willing to share costs and conference registration is reasonably priced.
you helped me with Oakland A's Stitch and Pitch information and I'd like to return the favor.
I learned to weave in the hippy back to the land movement of the 60's at the College of Marin, but got hooked on spinning when I could not find enough
yarns and threads for weaving what I wanted. I hardly weave these days but should break down and weave some new rugs.
Susan
Susan
Susan Sullivan Maynard
Editor, CiNCH Notes:
www.cnch.org415-468-5590
