Spinning & Weaving Week

Sponsorship Opportunities

October 2-8, 2023

With registration now open for this year’s Art Sparks sessions, excitement is building for the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc.’s (HGA) 7-day Spinning & Weaving Week Celebration! This virtual extravaganza showcases the fiber arts with vendor demonstrations and product talks, virtual studio tours, speakers, panels, mini-workshops, and a fun fashion show. We anticipate 1,000 fiber enthusiasts will attend Spinning & Weaving Week either in real time or by viewing recordings. 

Not only will your contribution put your business in front of event attendees, but it will also help sustain HGA’s programs, reaching over 10,000 fiber enthusiasts, at their highest level of artistic and educational excellence.

To maximize your impact, this 7-day digital conference, presented digitally through the Cvent platform, is available to attendees for up to 90 days following the event. Sponsorships start at $200. Download the Sponsorships Description for full details, or read on for a summary of each sponsorship available.

Present a Thread Talk

Share Your Story or Idea with the World During HGA’s Spinning & Weaving Week Celebration, October 2-8, 2023.

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. (HGA) is searching for creative makers who will inspire, surprise and delight the audience with their story in under 15 minutes. We all have stories to tell about our love of and experience with fiber. This is your chance! Public speaking experience is not required.
 
These Thread Talks will be presented virtually during HGA’s Spinning & Weaving Week Celebration. Curious about what a Thread Talk looks like? Take a look at our YouTube playlist from 2020!
 
Submission Deadline: We will accept submissions until the schedule is full.

Register to give a Thread Talk

Bookmark%20Exchange%20Email%20Header.pngThere’s still time to register for the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc.’s (HGA) 2023 Handwoven Bookmark Exchange! This small project provides quick warping, easy weaving, and great satisfaction. The Exchange Coordinator must receive all bookmarks by registered participants by February 28th.
 
Versatile bookmarks can be completed on a table loom, rigid heddle loom, inkle loom, or tapestry loom. So many options! This exchange offers flexibility and allows participants to test their creativity. There are no yarn restrictions, nor is there a minimum width or length. The only requirement is to weave four bookmarks and in exchange, you will receive four different bookmarks with instructions to recreate each one. You must be an HGA member to participate. Not an HGA member? Join Today!
Register Here
 
 

Community (Optional)
Participants will be invited by email to join the Facebook group for the exchange so they can share and communicate with each other.  
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s wonderful woven bookmarks!

Association of Northwest Weavers Guilds (ANWG) 

ANWG is an association of fiber arts guilds located within the Pacific Northwest United States and Western Canada of which OWG is a member.

Tamie Herridge is OWG’s representative. Her contact information is in the Yearbook. Please contact her with any questions you may have.

Tamie wants everyone to check out ANWG’s website as there is such great information on it: http://northwestweavers.org.

They have a great newsletter that includes a partial list of dates they have currently for the fiber art shows. You will want to check back often to their site to keep your own calendar updated with all of the great places you will get to travel to for supplies and lots of inspiration and fun this year!!!

Enjoy!!!

Financial Aid for Artists and Teachers

Applications for HGA Grants Open In February

Deadline: March 1, 2023

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. (HGA) provides grants for artists, students and teachers to take or teach non-accredited classes. This allows HGA members to attend workshops, take classes at conferences and to offer classes to beginning weaving and spinning students. 

Silvio and Eugenia Petrini Grant – Established in 1994 to honor Silvio and Eugenia Petrini, the fund makes a grant of $300 per individual. The application is open to HGA members for study in a non-accredited program of any skill level. 

Mearl K. Gable II Memorial Grant-Established in 2000 to honor this generous supporter of the Weavers Guild of the North Shore, Inc. (WGNS) and the fiber art community, the fund awards grants in the amounts of $100 or more per individual. The application is open to all HGA members for study in a non-accredited program of any skill level.

Teach-It-Forward Grant – Funded by HGA’s Fiber Trust, the grant awards $500 each year. The application is open to HGA members who teach beginning weavers or spinners in a private studio, shop or school; who are bringing new people to the craft, and who have an innovative plan or proposal.

To help you prepare your applications while waiting for our new portal to open, we have prepared the following resources. Please note, do not use the sample applications to apply. These are only to help you prepare.

Resources

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It’s mission is to educate, support and inspire the fiber art community. To support HGA’s Grants program, please consider a gift to HGA’s Fiber Trust. You can donate online by clicking here. To become a member of HGA, click here to join now. For more information about HGA or questions about applying for a grant call (678) 730-0010 or email HGA@WeaveSpinDye.org

Jurors’ Talks

January-February 2023
Register to Participate – If you have questions regarding membership to HGA you can contact Tamie Herridge who is OWG’s HGA Liaison and her contact information is in the OWG Yearbook.

Join the Handweaver’s Guild of America, Inc.‘s exhibit jurors as they provide insights into the artwork featured in our 2022 exhibits: Small Expressions, Seasons of the Smokies wearable art exhibit, Vistas along the Appalachian Trail yardage exhibit, and Dogwood to Kudzu basketry exhibit.  

The Jurors’ Talks will be conducted via Zoom. Registration for the live events will close at 12:00 pm ET on the day of the event. All registrants and anyone who registers after registration closes for the live event will receive access to an “on demand” recording of the juror’s talk. A link will be emailed 24 hours after the juror’s talk has ended. 

Registration Fees are $10-15 for HGA Student, Individual, Family, & Professional Artist Members and $15-25 for all others. Members, when registering you must first log in to your account or you will not receive the member rate. 

 Geri Forkner - Window View
2022 Vistas along the Appalachian Trail Yardage ExhibitJuror Robyn Spady Thursday, January 26, 1 pm ET Vistas along the Appalachian Trail is a yardage exhibit showcasing lengths of cloth produced by any fiber technique. Yardage is created for a variety of reasons: clothing or accessories adorning the body; useful objects such as towels or home décor; or as a piece of art.  Juror Robyn Spady was introduced to handweaving at a young age and has been weaving for over 50 years. She completed HGA’s Certificate of Excellence (COE) in 2004 with the specialized study Loom-controlled Stitched Double Cloth. Robyn is a well-known teacher and author on handweaving and is also founder and editor of Heddlecraft® . Register Here Image: Window View. Geri Forkner.
 Candace Pratt - Reaching for Light
2022 Dogwood to Kudzu Basketry ExhibitJuror Judy ZugishThursday, February 2, 1 pm ET Dogwood to Kudzu is a basketry exhibit juried by author Judy Zugish and produced by HGA. Basketry artists were challenged to explore the broad continuum of traditional to nontraditional and functional to nonfunctional to produce extraordinary vessels with a variety of manmade to natural materials.Juror Judy Zugish began experimenting with garden fibers in 1978. This soon led to an obsession for basketmaking and many years of pursuing technique with notable traditional weavers. Today, her contemporary works using gathered natural materials are exhibited widely. She teaches her signature style both at home and abroad.