Career Development Grant
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
This project will reinforce my reverence for Historic looms and for me to learn more about how they were made and how they work. This broadens my artistic achievements to make a weaving studio with a combination of looms. Handmade looms are especially intriguing as each one is different because immigrants made them the way they knew how “in the old country.” The Factory Made looms used in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were built because of the need for cloth. The outcomes of this project will be 3-4 (or more) renovated looms that all have working parts. They will be ready for weavers to prepare for weaving by warping (putting on yarns). These looms will be ready for use in the Art Studio in Old School Lives in Cotton, Minnesota. An additional outcome is that an assistant will be working and learning alongside me. This provides me feedback that my skill and learning is being passed on to another weaver, who can then become a Weaving Studio manager herself. Three main things will be achieved. One is that there will be 3-4 restored looms. Secondly, an Assistant will have learned a great deal about the looms, and the functioning of those looms. Thirdly, I will have achieved learning about the many looms that are there, and very much about the ones we do restore. 1. Three to four (or more) looms must be assembled with all parts. 2. They must work correctly. To make them workable one must understand how a loom works, and know what parts are necessary to make it work. Furthermore, one must know how to balance the parts to make them work with the right tension on the warp threads so that weaving can proceed. 3. We might have to warp a loom to demonstrate tension issues, as well as how to balance pulleys and harnesses. 4. The Trainer (me) will have to choose which looms to restore. I will also have to visualize and determine how they can fit in to the space available. 5. The Trainee (Ginger) will have successfully begun to understand a loom and how it works. 6. Repaired parts and replacement parts are functional and provide the correct mechanics that are necessary to make them work. The woodworkers will know that their work was of high value. 7. An eclectic looking group of parts of looms now are working as a loom should. 8. My new skills are evidenced in the final product of old looms turned into “NEW” old looms.
1. Reinforce my reverence for Historic Looms: I am honored that I could rapidly interpret the needed repairs and adjustments for each loom. I am so excited that I was able to do this and feel so much more competent. 2. Learn more about how they were made: each loom had different types of brakes, harnesses were different from loom to loom, attached or unattached seats were different on each loom, one loom had so many bolts on it, it was just astonishing, and one loom used springs instead of pulley systems (wow!). 3. 3-4 looms will be restored; we overachieved this goal by restoring 8 looms! 4. They will be ready for use in the Textile Studio at Old School Lives: one needs to put the threads on the looms before they can actually be balanced with the right tension to weave. This will happen as warping techniques," a class to be scheduled. 5. Assistant will be working and learning alongside me: hand-made characteristics of each loom was reviewed and discussed with Ginger as we worked on them. 6. Provides me with feedback that skills are being learned and passed on to another weaver: we warped one loom to do a test run to get the thread tension right so weaving can happen. One rag rug is started on it as of this writing, and Ginger is just thrilled that this is working! Discussions with Ginger about the looms, loom parts, and how they work to make the loom function correctly gave me the feedback that she has learned a great deal about the looms and how to take care of them."
Other, local or private