Textile Arts Centre
Textile Arts Center (TAC) is a NYC-based resource facility dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of textiles through creative educational programs for children and adults. At TAC, they aspire to unite the textile community and advocate for the handmade by providing accessible, skills-based classes that reinvigorate engagement with traditional crafts. Techniques like weaving, sewing, and dyeing are practical, connective, and process-driven -- common denominators for designers, artists, and creative practitioners around the world. Because these activities are so widely used, they help to foster community and bring creativity back into our daily lives. They are part of our collective history and vital to our ongoing expressions of design, art, and culture.
TAC appreciates the unique values of textile arts and wants to expand opportunities for new practitioners to engage with the medium. Participatory learning is the foundation of their model and enables students from all backgrounds to make meaningful contributions to a growing community of fiber artists. Workshops, courses, events, and special programs at TAC allow professionals and novices alike to explore their creative ingenuity through handcraft processes. By engaging with groups ranging from newcomers to experts, they increase the positive social impact of textile arts and nurture innovations and leadership in the field.
The Textile Arts Center’s Artist in Residence (TAC AIR) program equips emerging artists and designers with the resources and skills to better articulate their practices and contribute to their communities through a combination of studio access, rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum, critical dialogue, and mentorship. The culminating group exhibition showcases and promotes residents’ work on a regional and national level through additional catalogue materials. The 8 artists for Cycle 11 of the AIR program will be selected by a jury of TAC staff and professionals working in different fields of textile arts. Cycle 11 runs from October 2019-June 2020. TAC AIR Program Provides:
- Individual studio space
- 24-hour access to TAC studio and equipment
- Technical classes in techniques including weaving, spinning, machine knitting, and surface design
- Seminars in textile history, modern craft theory, and professional development (e.g. grant writing, art law, material sourcing)
- Critiques and Mentorship with professional designers and fiber artists
Each artist receives their own studio space in an open setting to foster a collaborative experience with other artists. Only eight artists participate in the program each year. The artists have 24/7 access to the studio space and have access to all the equipment and classes at the Textile Arts Center.
No accommodation provided!