The Art Workers’ Guild
The Art Workers’ Guild
A Guild meeting
Guild meetings are held in person at the Guild and streamed via YouTube
Thursday 15 January
Masters Night
Charlotte Grierson
Charlotte has always taken an explorative approach to weaving, seeking an interaction between the yarns she uses and the structure of the weaving to create interesting fabrics. She hopes to give an insight into her journey.
Wednesday 28 January
Committee Meeting
Thursday 29 January
Shelly Goldsmith
Weaving chair legs: My life in textiles
Shelly Goldsmith will present her multimedia textile practice. She will discuss the range of textile methods and materials used across 2D, 3D and installation as a logical approach across a 40-year career.
Thursday 12 February
Jessica Light
The Tassel Queen of Bethnal Green
London’s last East End passementier, Jessica is known for creating original design-led trims and tassels, using techniques that date back to 16th century. Jessica will talk about her career, the history and the future of this fascinating endangered heritage craft.
Thursday 26 February
Nancy Vong Johnston
Threads of Meaning: Weaving Culture, Connection and Regeneration
Nancy Johnston, founder of House of Tengri, explores textiles as living expressions of identity and interdependence. Sharing how Tengri emerged to revive culture, global connection, and conservation. Revealing how craft and cloth form a regenerative language that restores our relationship with people, place, and planet.
Thursday 12 March
Becky Aston
From Hand to Circuit: Understanding Texture Through Woven Electronics
Rebecca Aston is a Computational Artist and lecturer at Goldsmiths University. She will talk about coding as a creative craft. She will present work that explores the multisensory perception of texture, focusing on woven electronic textiles and hand spun conductive yarn.
Thursday 26 March
Kurt Jackson
From Cornwall to London
Kurt will take us on journey through his practice, projects, approaches and rationale. An environmental artist let loose across this country; paintings, sculpture, poetry and more.
Thursday 16 April
Ekta Kaul
Needle as compass: Embroidered Cartographies
Artist Ekta Kaul explores the intersection of embroidery and cartography, tracing how the needle has long served as a subtle compass. From 19th-century schoolgirl samplers to contemporary stitched maps that chart memory, migration, and belonging through thread.
Wednesday 29 April
Committee Meeting
Thursday 30 April
Sarah Campbell
Sixty-five years in the business – things change, things stay the same!
Sarah began working on painting textile designs in an informal way with her sister in 1961. The essence of Sarah’s work, creating patterns, remains constant though much has changed around her. At heart, Sarah’s values and beliefs about what she considers worthwhile design remain the same.
Thursday 14 May
Mary Schoeser
Marianne Straub RDI: a designer’s designer
Swiss-born Marianne Straub (1909-1994) was to become one of Britain’s most influential designers. This talk is a chance to glimpse the creative output of a handweaver committed to well-made mass-produced textiles from c.1933-1992, and an inspirational postwar teacher.
Thursday 28 May
Jane Dorner & Simon Hurst
Fellows in Folly
Simon and Jane are members of the Folly Fellowship having won the unique category of the Shed-of-the-Year Competition with the folly that Simon designed and Jane decorated. Their illustrated talk will look at the notion of ‘folly’ and ‘fellowship’ in various senses of the words.
Thursday 11 June
Sketchbook evening
What are you working on?
A chance for Brothers to share sketches, models and samples of their current projects.
Thursday 25 June
Allan Brown & Dylan Howitt
Film Screening: The Nettle Dress
Textile artist Allan Brown spent seven years making a dress by hand just from fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles. A modern-day fairytale and hymn to the healing power of nature and slow craft. - “An exquisite, inspiring film”- Sir Mark Rylance
Thursday 9 July
Philip Sanderson
Artists and Weavers at West Dean Tapestry Studio.
West Dean Tapestry Studio has been working with artists and designers to create bespoke tapestries since 1976. Studio Leader Philip Sanderson will discuss the evolution of the Tapestry Studio at West Dean and explain the process of translating ideas and images into tapestry.
SUMMER BREAK
Wednesday 23 September
Committee Meeting
Thursday 24 September
James Fox
Craftland: A journey through Britain’s lost art and vanishing trades
Britain has always been a craft land. For generations what we made with our hands defined our identities, built our communities and shaped our regions. James Fox explores that deeply necessary connection between our creative instincts and the material world we inhabit, revealing a richer and more connected way of living.
Thursday 8 October
Langlands & Bell
Traces of Living
Turner Prize nominated and BAFTA winning artists Langlands & Bell discuss their unique practice exploring human relationships from the personal to the political through art, architecture and design, in an illustrated conversation with Dr Jean Wainwright.
Thursday 22 October
Philippa Brock
2D-3D
Philippa Brock’s woven textile works explore research based, experimental 2D – 3D woven textiles and she also curates weave residency programmes. She is considered a disruptor of digital industrial power jacquard loom methods, manufacturing her innovative exhibition and industry based works.
Thursday 5 November
Jonathan Burton & Cockpit Makers
Following the Line: Line and mark making in contemporary craft
Cockpit CEO Jonathan Burton in conversation with 3 Cockpit makers. Metalworkers; Jackie Oliver and Kim Sutherland and embroidery artist Kamilah Ahmed will discuss crossovers and connections between their practices.
Wednesday 18 November
Committee Meeting
Thursday 19 November
Rachael Matthews & Celia Pym
Textile artists Rachael Matthews and Celia Pym have been sharing their experiences with mending and making things for many years now. They have noticed that the more conscious people become about the preciousness of materials, and the mending of their clothes, the more work comes their way and the less time they have to meet and share the joys of it. They are looking forward to meeting at the Guild and talking about their recent works.
Thursday 10 December
Annual General Meeting (members only)
Guild Meetings: Thursdays at 7pm
Committee Meetings: Wednesdays at 6.30pm
