Broom Making Basics

with Cate O’Connell-Richards

Tuesday–Friday, June 4–7, 2024, 2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $235

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1:00 p.m.

Become a broomsquire at Ox-Bow! Learn the foundations of handmaking brooms and whisks. This workshop will feature a presentation on the development of American broom making, including both traditional Appalachian and New England techniques, an introduction to broom making materials, and basic handmaking skills. Included will be demos on a turkey wing whisk, cobwebber, besom, and traditional flat sweeper. Students will be able to learn the basics, as well as have the time to experiment with different handles, weaves, materials, and forms. Materials will be provided.

Cate O’Connell-Richards (they/them) is an artist, broomsquire, and educator living in Madison, Wisconsin. O’Connell-Richards has exhibited internationally and shown work at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (North Adams, MA), The Museum of Glass (Tacoma, WA), The Trout Museum of Art (Appleton, WI), Abel Contemporary (Stoughton, WI), Hesse Flatow (New York), Lillstreet Arts Center (Chicago), and the Gallery im Körnerpark (Berlin, DE). Their last solo exhibition “SWEPT” was held at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA in 2022. They have been awarded several travel grants for craft research, including a 2024 Craft Research Fund Project Grant to study the history of American broom making. Their writing has been published by Surface Design Journal (2024), and Mergoat Magazine (2023). Currently, they are a Lecturer for the UW-Madison Art Department.

Macram​​é-nia!

Johanna Cordasco

Tuesday–Friday, June 25–28, 2024, 2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $235

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1:00 p.m.

Learn how to create a macramé wall hanging of your own design, beginning by loading string or twine onto a dowel or stick using lark's head knots. Then, develop patterns out of repeating knots: square knots, decorative knots, half hitches, and more! An array of materials will be available for your use, and you can bring in your own components to weave into your work.

Johanna Cordasco is an interdisciplinary artist focusing on sculpture and textiles, currently working at Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick, New Jersey as a Co-Adjunct. Cordasco is a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she earned a BFA with a concentration in sculpture and minors in art history and psychology.

Getting Koozie: Dimensional Crochet 

with kg

Tuesday–Friday, July 30–August 2, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $235

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1:00 p.m.

For Getting Koozie, participants are asked to bring an object for which they wish to create a custom-fit slipcover. Using very basic crochet stitches, we will work to create a dimensional form to fit snugly around the item. This can be a permanent skin affixed around the object, or a usable, removable cover. Along the way, you will learn a working set of crochet skills that can be applied to future projects! No previous crochet knowledge needed. Basic materials and tools for in-class use will be provided. 

kg (b.1980, Poland) makes weavings and writes poetry from their home studio by the lake in Chicago. kg values the small the domestic and the everyday, situating those politics in their studio and curatorial practices. They have exhibited work with Horse and Pony (Berlin), The Brooklyn Academy Of Music,The Bruce High Quality Foundation and The Gowanas Ballroom (New York), Left Field Gallery and Adjunct Positions (Los Angeles), Katherine E. Nash Gallery (Minneapolis), Monique Meloche Gallery, Gallery 400, Julius Caesar and LVL3 (Chicago), The John Michael Kohler Art Center (Wisconsin) and their most recent solo exhibition, Here Comes That Feeling at Hawthorne Contemporary in Milwaukee. Some Kind Of Duty, Their expansive weaving survey hosted by The DePaul Art Museum is available as a monograph through the museum shop and online. In 2017 kg attended The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and The Vermont Studio Center as a fellow in 2018. Current exhibitions include Intranarratives hosted by the Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal. Upcoming shows include Stitch, Woven, Hooked at The Lubeznik art Center and Beyond: Tapestry Expanded at The Peeler Art Center at DePauw University.

Twisted Treasures: Wire Basket Weaving

with Day Brierre

Tuesday–Friday, August 6–9, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $235

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1:00 p.m.

This hands-on experience invites participants to create sculptural vessels at the intersection of traditional basket weaving and contemporary aesthetics. Attendees will learn the techniques of manipulating wire into intricate patterns to create stunning and functional wire baskets. Basic materials and tools for in-class use will be provided.

100% Pure Wool

with Christina Sweeney

Tuesday–Friday, August 13–16, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $235

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1:00 p.m.

Ensconce yourself in an introduction to the process of felting. We will explore the narratives of felting history, labor, and functionality while working in a more contemporary, concept-driven manner. Students will learn both needle and wet felting techniques and execute at least one finished work from each section. We will run through the basics, from acquiring the wool and proper tools to formulating a title and response to our finished pieces. We will work both collaboratively and independently while possibly drawing inspiration from the Ox-Bow campus. Wool and basic tools for in-class use will be provided.

Christina Sweeney is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and collaborator from South Florida. She works predominantly with wool, pigments, clay and the found object while addressing themes of protection, climate, harsh weather realities and labor and production. Christina received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012 and has been living in between West Michigan,New York City and Chicago ever since. She enjoys working on community based projects and meeting new people. When not in the studio or working for arts non-profts you can find her at the beach or lakefront.

Renewed Ready-to-Wear

with Gurtie Hansell 

Tuesday–Friday, August 20–23, 2:00 p.m–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $220

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1 p.m.

What we wear shows the world so much of who we are. For many, fashion acts as ornamentation, or even armor. Unfortunately, the fashion industry – and fast fashion in particular – is destroying Mother Earth. The clothing and materials we need to adorn ourselves already exist in the world. With a little creativity we can reinvent and revitalize our looks (and a bit of ourselves). We will explore ways of sourcing “upcycled” and “deadstock” materials. We will hold our own clothing swap to pool materials for creating and renewing eco-friendly wearables, then enhance those found garments with inks, dyes, stitches, and appliques – learning new painting, sewing, and printmaking techniques along the way. The experience will culminate in a fashion show collectively produced by the group on the final day. Materials and tools to alter your garments will be provided. Let’s frolic!

Gurtie Hansell is a multimedia artist, teacher, and entrepreneur working out of their home studio and backyard in Chicago. They draw on fashion, printmaking (and print-breaking), as well as graphic design to outfit their community for pageantry, protest, and pleasure. Their wearables are deeply inspired by decades in queer nightlife, camp craft, and generally being loud in public. Gurtie owns a gender-expansive streetwear brand called Kangmankey which they've run since 2015, and they also co-operate a production and costume design company called MotherTwin. This is their 4th year teaching "Renewed Ready to Wear" at Oxbow's Art on the Meadow.