have fun playing...

There is a super awesome, fun, and exciting workshop this Sunday in conjunction with PLAY. For only $20 you get 4 hours of workshop with 6 visiting artists. It will be a day of incredibly fun, informative, stuff and an honor to work with so many cool artists.

See the details:


4 hour Play workshop with 6 visiting artists:

Day of Fiber Workshops:

June 12, 1-5PM REGISTER

The Day of Fiber Workshops will consist of the following programs. The cost of entrance will be $20 to participate in as many or few workshops as you'd like!



Introduction to Sculptural Crochet -- led by Candice Thompson

Crochet is the process of using a hook to pull loops through other loops to create fabric. Each stitch can be conceived of as a pixel or building block; the variation of size and number of stitches lending a distinct three-dimensional form. Only one stitch is dealt with at a time, making it easy to adjust along the way and experiment without a formal pattern.

In this workshop you will learn to use the basic building blocks of crochet-- chaining, single crochet, and double crochet-- to create various three-dimensional shapes and sculptures of

your choosing. No experience with crochet is necessary and all levels are welcome. Come with a project in mind or simply a desire to play and improvise.


Size Matters: Playing with Knitting Scale -- led by Katya Usvitsky

A workshop that explores both alternative materials and scale in knitting, to get students thinking about knitting as an art process, not just a utilitarian one. While still using traditional techniques, students will be challenged to create with handmade knitting tools. As a starting point, I will supply giant (upwards of 1.5” wide) knitting needles and non-traditional ‘yarn’. The exploration of all the possibilities contained within the basic stitch will be the most exciting part, and the class will not necessarily be focused on creating a final or functional product.

Students will be encouraged to bring materials they are interested in experimenting with, but are not required to bring anything.


Playing with Plastics -- led by Carol Sogard

Workshop participants will learn about:

The environmental impacts of plastics and the limitations involved with recycling plastics.
Ideas for reuse of plastics and other materials with an environmental impact.
How to heat fuse plastic through the use of an iron and then utilizing this new durable material to create a variety of products: pillows, toys, bags etc...



Needle Felting -- led by Mariangela Tan & Justin Alan Volpe

Needle felting is the process of interlocking wool fibers by stabbing it with a barbed needle. The barbs catch the scales on the fibre and causes them to tangle and bind together.

This workshop introduces students to the tools, processes, and possibilities of needle-felting. Participants complete a small project to get familiar with the concepts central to this unique art form and leave with the skills and knowledge to translate their ideas into felt using simple tools to create three-dimensional, free-standing, solid felt sculpture.

Telephone, the Exquisite Corpse and Free-Style Embroidery -- led by Jan Johnson

Telephone is a game where a sentence is whispered into one player's ear, and then that player whispers again what was heard into the next player's ear, and so forth the sentence continues around to all the players until the last player receives the message. The last player then states aloud what was heard. The result can be quite different from what was really said and often quite funny and strange. This game and the Surrealist drawing technique of the exquisite corpse are similar and brought together here in a workshop that teaches free-style embroidery stitches and carbon-transfer patterning. Each participant will work on the same "sampler" drawing, each unaware of what the others have drawn in thread except for a line or two that is left visible for the next player to attach the second part to the first part. This process will continue until all the players have finished a drawing made with an embroidery stitch or a combination of stitches. After the last player has completed their part, the "drawing" will then be unmasked to reveal the composite sampler.



Wet and Wild Felting -- led by Ricki Dwyer

Felting workshop with a wide variety of weird materials to felt into and with. Different colored wool, straight off the animal as well as carded roving, wire, yarn, industrial felt, wire mesh, fabric, coins, beads, etc. Participants will be taught how to wet felt as an interactive process, getting their hands and feet wet to agitate the material. Will be conducive to all ages. They will produce a piece of felt by the end of the day, but the emphasis would be on experimenting with different materials, and a variety of forms to felt on top of to shape their piece if they choose to do so.

For more info or to sign up contact the center at info@textileartscenter or (718) 369- 0222.