Weave Where You Are: Ọmọlará Williams McCallister

July 23 – 29

Weave Where You Are : Intro to Little Looms

This course is for everyone and anyone! In this introductory course for beginners we will use lap sized portable looms to weave 3 yards of cloth. Each participant will have the option of finishing their cloth into one of the following: a wall hanging, a set of 4 placemats, a table runner, or yardage that can be used for future sewing projects. Participants will be facilitated through the entire weaving process. We will experiment with design processes, measure out the yarn for our designs, set up our looms to weave, weave, wet finish and hem our pieces.

Looms, materials and tools will be provided. Participants are welcome to bring their own personal hand tools (snips, shears, etc) if they prefer. Participants will have the opportunity to purchase their own little loom and additional yarn at the end of the workshop.

Ọmọlará developed an interest in weaving early on. As a child Ọmọlará’s mother made Ọmọlará’s clothes and allowed Ọmọlará to design them. Ọmọlará’s passion for customization and design grew into a love of textile design and production. Ọmọlará has traveled widely to study various techniques for making and making designs on fabric. Ọmọlará, along with Najee Haynes-Follins, is cofounder of the Baltimore Community Weaving Studio, a community resources where anyone can learn to weave–regardless of their identities–at no cost to them. Today craft skills like weaving are socially and financially inaccessible due to the high start-up cost of materials and equipment, time intensiveness—time crafting equals time not working for pay– and the intersecting systems of oppression that keep those resources out of reach for many. The Baltimore Community Weaving Studio is one of the many ways that Ọmọlará lives out Ọmọlará’s commitment to build a world where everyone has what they need to live with ease and thrive.

Ọmọlará Williams McCallister is based in Baltimore, and originally from Atlanta Georgia. Ọmọlará’s practice is to cultivate cultures of collective care where everyone has what they need to live with ease and thrive. Ọmọlará does this through a call/response blend of: sculpture, performance, installation, ritual, space holding, community building, surface design, adornment, word, sound, song, movement, moving images and photography. Roles that Ọmọlará steps into include: artist, educator, organizer, cultural strategist, conjurer. In all forms O’s work is immersive and interactive, it is co-authored by the people who inspire and encounter it.

This workshop is currently full. Please contact us if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

Workshop Registration

Enrollment in each workshop is handled on a first-come, first-served basis. A deposit payment of $250 is required at the time of registration with full payment for all summer workshops due by May 30. If a workshop is full you can contact our office to be placed on the waitlist free of charge. If space becomes available we will let you know. All workshops begin on a Sunday afternoon and conclude on Saturday morning.

Fees

The cost of participating in a workshop includes tuition, room and board. We offer on-campus housing in a private (single) or double (shared with one other person) room. Room availability is limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you do not need housing, you may register as a day student at a reduced rate. Whether staying on campus or off, all meals are included and prepared for workshop participants by the Quarry restaurant. Fees for materials and supplies will vary for each studio and can range from $25-$100.

Accommodations

Housing is in new or recently refurbished houses located within walking distance of studios and workshops. Single or double occupancy bedrooms are provided in shared housing. Bedrooms are comfortably furnished with twin beds. Linens and towels are provided, you should bring an extra swim towel.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations made 30 days prior to the start of your workshop will receive a refund minus a $50 processing fee. Cancellations made 10 days prior will receive a 50% refund. Any cancellations after that will be charged the full rate. However, if you experience illness on the day of planned arrival, we will refund minus $50 to protect all of our participants. Should circumstances change, and we decide it is not possible to safely operate and cancel or postpone a workshop, you will receive a full refund.