Weave Something New
Fall 2026 Basketry + fiber craft workshops
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Upcoming workshops
Instructor: Anders Zanichkowsky
Format: In-person, 3 hours
Date(s): October 13, 2026
Day/Time: Tuesday, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Would you like to build more of your livelihood around your art practice, or get your work out into the world more? Curious about ways to get funded, exhibit, and create new work, but intimidated by the process?
This workshop will de-mystify the landscape of opportunities such as grants, awards, residencies, and exhibitions. You will learn how each of these can support your practice at different stages in a project or career, where to find ones that meet your needs, and how to be competitive. You’ll also learn ways to incorporate these applications into your ongoing professional practice, and get tools for staying thoughtful and strategic about your personal goals.
**Please review the FAQ page for cancellation and safety policies.
Teaching Artist Bio
Anders Zanichkowsky is an artist, writer, educator, and the owner of Burial Blankets: handwoven shrouds for natural burial meant for a lifetime of reflection and enjoyment. Their professional development workshops are rooted in their own scrappy, DIY approach to being an artist entrepreneur, drawing on two decades of community organizing, fundraising, and communications work. Anders has been an artist-in-residence with The Arctic Circle in Svalbard, Røst AiR in Norway, and the Chicago Park District. They have received numerous awards for their studio work, public art projects, and international research, including a DCASE Individual Artist Grant and a SPARK grant from the Chicago Artists Coalition. They have also raised over $13,00 for their art practice through DIY crowdfunding campaigns, most recently for their forthcoming experimental film "Ordinary Time." Anders graduated from Hampshire College and has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Instructor: Nelly Agassi
Format: 2-day workshop
Date(s): September 26 + 27, 2026
Day/Time: Saturday + Sunday, 10:30 am to 2:30 pm
Soft Matter is a 2-day weekend workshop where participants will explore the creative potential of fabric, thread, and found materials as carriers of memory and meaning. Through experimentation with various approaches to fabric manipulation, including transforming cloth, knitting, knotting, and stitching, participants will focus on the deconstruction and reconstruction of old fabrics to create wearables, soft sculptures or fiber-based objects. We will engage in hand stitching and other types of innovative fiber joining techniques to repurpose existing textiles into new and fresh creations. Some processes will include stitching, fabric manipulation, and embellishment, finger knitting, and basic needle knitting, manipulating knit structures to create forms that can range from body-based works to soft sculptures.
All materials and techniques are approachable for beginners; no prior sewing or knitting experience required.
The instructor will provide a materials list to all class participants via email.
Instructor: Dee Clements
Format: 2-day workshop
Date(s): November 14 +15, 2026
Day/Time: Saturday + Sunday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Basket as Sculpture is a two-day introduction to the craft of basketry as both a utilitarian object and a form with sculptural potential. Leave with core techniques and a hands-on feel for sculptural basketry.
This workshop is a welcoming entry point into the foundations of sculptural weaving. Participants will learn core techniques for creating three-dimensional woven forms while developing an understanding of basketry structure, materials, and tools.
Working with reed, participants will begin by constructing a woven base, learning how the core structural elements work together to form a basket. Through demonstrations and hands-on practice, participants will explore several essential weaving techniques and then build on those techniques to start creating new, unique three-dimensional woven forms.
The focus of this class is building confidence with material (reed, dyes) and technique while beginning to understand how woven structures create form. Participants will complete small sample pieces that introduce the possibilities of sculptural basketry and prepare them for more complex projects.
Ideal for beginners, artists, and curious makers who want to explore basket weaving as both a craft and sculptural practice.
Learning Outcomes
Understand the structure of basket-woven forms
Learn how to prepare and work with reed
Construct a woven basket base
Practice foundational weaving techniques
Construct a finished border/rim
Develop an understanding of how weaving builds three-dimensional form
Gain familiarity with basketry tools and materials
Complete sample projects that demonstrate core techniques
*Image artwork: 1. Suzanne Isken, 2. Suse Talley, 3. Jen Urso working in class, 4. The Weaving Workshop, 4. Meg Durlak
Cancellation & Workshop Policies
Please review our FAQ page before registering. By registering, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our cancellation terms and health guidelines.
Want to go further? Our 4-week Experimental Basketry: Sculptural Form class builds on these techniques with mixed materials and larger, more ambitious sculptural work.
Instructor: Kg
Format: In-person, 6-hours
Date(s): October 25, 2026
Day/Time: Sunday 10 am to 4 pm
In this workshop, participants will learn to make small-scale, hand-interlaced tapestry weavings using a variety of materials and techniques. Together we will learn how to warp, tensioning string onto the loom in preparation for weaving. Most of the day will be spent adding weft materials to the weaving to create images, patterns, textures, and dimensional surfaces. Participants can expect to leave the workshop with several complete small-scale works. Short supplemental demos include: spinning wool on a drop spindle, painting your warp, and additive and reductive dyeing techniques. A curated library of books surveying tapestry weaving across several decades will be available for perusal and inspiration. Weavers will be provided with a pocket-sized wooden-frame loom to use in class and to take with them for future weaving projects.
Materials provided: mini frame loom, tapestry needles, various yarn and string, graph paper
Materials needed: scissors, various yarn and string, any small item you would like to incorporate into your mini cloth, sketchbook, one small metal fork
Photo credit Thaib Wahab
**Please review the FAQ page for cancellation and safety policies.
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. Recent exhibitions include Intranarratives hosted by the Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal and Beyond: Tapestry Expanded at The Peeler Art Center at DePauw University, Floral Methods curated by Theo Bignon at Bunker Projects in Pittsburgh, PA, Never. Again! a solo exhibition in Color Club’s Museum Space, and We May Be Soft at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Art, Friends, Making
Discover joy in making at The Weaving Workshop, Chicago’s artist-run school for basket weaving. Founded by artist and educator Dee Clements, The Weaving Workshop offers hands-on workshops that blend tradition, creativity, and community for all skill levels. Join us to learn, create, and connect.
The Weaving Workshop and Dee Clements are thrilled to announce SPOKE, a group exhibition at Oxbow House in Douglas, MI, featuring work by a selection of artists who have participated in workshops at The Weaving Workshop.