Special Topics Workshops

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2020 Schedule

JUN 22-26 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) 
Bronze Casting
with Rivers of Steel
Instructor: Ed Parrish

All Levels
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$140-$170 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

Join Rivers of Steel at Touchstone Center for Crafts for a one-of-a-kind workshop in bronze casting. You will work with leading foundry artist Ed Parrish for this 5-day workshop to build and transform your unique creations into solid bronze. Beginning with the creation of a pattern from wax, oil clay, or other basic materials, you will then learn to invest your pattern design in resin-bonded sand molds and work to cast each object on the final day of the workshop. PLEASE NOTE: Materials and Studio Fees includes some of the cost of foundry sand and bronze with additional available for purchase. This cost is calculated based on usage at the end of the workshop.

Ed was born and raised in North Carolina. He attended East Carolina University where he earned a BFA in sculpture. Soon after college Parrish relocated to Pittsburgh where he began working as an artist blacksmith and fabricator. He was part owner of Red Star Ironworks a custom metal shop focusing on decretive metal work. Moving forward he worked as an independent artist and taught foundry classes out of his private studio. Ed also worked in the film industry as a special effects technician and specialty prop maker. Parrish lead Hot Metal Happening a series of public iron casting events at various locations around Pittsburgh. He has exhibited work at the Mattress Factory, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Space Gallery, and most recently, a solo exhibit at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination. Currently he is working with the Rivers of Steel Arts as the lead foundry artists developing foundry and metal arts programing. Parrish has over twenty years’ experience and a lifelong dedication to the exploration of metal arts.

website: Rivers of Steel
Instagram: @edparrishjr 

JUL 6-10 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) 
Designing Your Own
Digitally Printed Fabrics
Instructor: Becka Rahn

Beginner
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member 
$70-$100 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

From Rectangles to Repeats: Learn to design your own fabrics with Spoonflower, working with Adobe Photoshop as a fabric design tool. Using photographs, paintings, drawings and cut paper textures as starting points for your designs, class time will be focused on practice with digital tools and techniques for creating seamless textures, learning how to work with layers, and understanding the techniques to accomplish specific effects. You will see hands-on samples of all of the Spoonflower fabrics and talk about optimizing your design for printing on different surfaces, troubleshooting color and scale, and choosing the right fabric for your project. You do not need drawing or painting skills; no experience with Photoshop or fabric design is necessary, although you should be comfortable with basic computer functions (copy/paste, saving and uploading files, working with a thumbdrive). You will leave class with several print-ready design files and will receive printed swatches of your designs mailed to you after class. Visit spoonflower.com to learn more about this platform.

Becka is an artist and teacher living in Minneapolis, MN.  Her primary work is designing fabric using engineered and manipulated photographic designs and original paper artwork. She prints these designs onto fabric and uses these prints to make one-of-a-kind wearable art garments and accessories. She is a workshop instructor, former art administrator, is on the board of directors of the Hennepin History Museum in Minneapolis and of the Weavers Guild of MN and served as the MN State Rep to the Surface Design Association 2015-2017.

Instructor website: beckarahn.com
Instagram: @beckarahn

JUL 13-17 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) 
Color on Cloth
Instructor: Angie Knowles

Beginner
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member 
$30-$60 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

This workshop is for anyone who loves color! Learn dyeing basics of natural fabrics using fiber reactive dyes and low water immersion techniques; the required chemicals and additives needed and color mixing theory while focusing on how to mix and blend colors. Over 5 days you will learn how to make and maintain two types of natural indigo vats using natural indigo powder.  Expect to make several pillow or napkin-sized samples and leave with a wealth of dyeing knowledge!

Angie works in mixed media, primarily surface design on cotton and silk.  Knowles first encountered surface design in 2008 when she joined the Tampa Bay Surface Design Guild and has since studied under many leading artists including: Jane Dunnewold, Kerr Grabowski, and Gasali Adeyemo.  She offers workshops in her studio and has taught at John C. Campbell Folk School.

Instructor website: angieeknowles.com

JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK |6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Puppet Slam!
Instructor: Cheryl Capezzuti

All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member 
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Materials List will be provided

Download Teen Week Application*

Explore the vast art of puppetry and design and build original puppets in a variety of styles. Puppetmaker Cheryl Capezzuti will work with you based on your interest and help you develop your own unique puppet characters. Choose to make a series of smaller hand puppets, intricately designed shadow puppets, create a pattern for an original, machine-sewn puppet or go big and make a giant papier-mache, parade-sized work. Each artist will be introduced to many different construction techniques and then make their own creative decisions about their final puppetry work. The class will end with a Puppet Slam, a showcase of short puppet shows. Come learn the art of creating puppets from a master!

Cheryl has been making puppets of all sizes for years in Pittsburgh. She is best known for her giants: Full-body, backpack-style puppets up to 15′ tall, which are the centerpiece of downtown Pittsburgh’s New Year’s Eve parade. She has been commissioned by theater companies all over the region to make puppets of all kinds and has a small theater company that produces short works and traveling puppet shows.

**Image courtesy of Larry Rippel
Instructor website: studiocapezzuti.com

*Teen Week applications must be submitted by May 1^st for consideration. ALL TEENS INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN TEEN WEEK MUST FILL OUT A TEEN WEEK APPLICATION REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIP CONSIDERATION. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

AUG 10-14 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) 
Transformations in Paper
– A Workshop for Veterans
Instructor: Frontline Paper

No Experience Necessary
Materials List will be provided

FREE WITH SCHOLARSHIP!

Up to 15 Scholarships for Veterans and their family members (18yrs+) are available for this workshop thanks to the generosity of the family of Agnes & James Kinard.

Scholarship Applications Available Now

Applications deadline: March 27^th.
Please check our scholarship page for more details.

Veterans and family members are invited to join this unique workshop and learn traditional hand paper making techniques, transforming military uniforms into paper as a means for sharing stories and building community. This 5-day workshop begins with an overview and explanation of the papermaking process, seeing and feeling examples of the paper and previous art made, and beginning the process of ‘deconstructing’ the uniform. You will begin to form an idea of what you might like to put on the paper, in the form of images and words and move on to pulling sheets of paper, making pulp prints, drying the paper, and making art. The art made can and will range from pulp prints, letterpress, writing, and bookbinding. Whether the blank paper or a created image on the surface, each work of art tells a story through the language of papermaking. Uniforms, pulp, and paper with be provided but it is encouraged that the veterans attending, if they have them, bring uniforms of their own to transform into paper. It’s a powerful experience turning the uniform you wore into paper. No experience necessary – just a willingness to explore something new in a supportive environment! Provided for veterans and taught by veterans.

Frontline Paper began in 2011 as Combat Paper NJ. CPNJ was founded by veteran artists and activists, Eli Wright and David Keefe. With inspiration from master  papermaker Drew Mattot, and Drew Cameron’s traveling project called Combat Paper  Project, Eli and Dave built a unique community-oriented papermaking program that connects veterans and non-veterans from all eras through the transformational  practice of making handmade paper from military uniforms, creative writing, and  printmaking via the profound connection over making and telling stories together.  Through a process of deconstruction, reclamation, and communication, Veterans connect with non-veterans, by sharing their personal stories through handmade paper, printmaking, and participatory artmaking. Combat Paper NJ became Frontline Paper in 2017. 

website: frontlinearts.org
Instagram: @frontline_paper

AUG 17-21 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) 
Natural Fiber Baskets:
Grow & Weave
Instructor: Jo Campbell-Amsler

All Levels
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member 
$90-$120 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

Starting from the ground up, you will explore the processes for gathering and using a variety of natural materials such as willow, bark, iris and day lily leaves, roots, vines and sticks, that can be used for basket weaving.  Using willow as the ‘heart’ of the basket structures, you will learn a variety of techniques while experimenting and weaving several basket styles.  This workshop will open your eyes to the possibilities of materials growing around you! Expect to weave 3-4 baskets during the workshop.

Jo has been using willow in her basketry work since the early 1980’s. Her work has been featured in magazines, books, and exhibits across the United States – one of the most recent being “A Measure of the Earth” at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Teaching throughout the United States, she is also a co-organizer for several retreats – The Willow Gathering and Willow Weekend. She is a past board member of the National Basketry Organization that focuses on connecting both traditional and contemporary basketry makers across the US and beyond. In recent years, she has hosted a number of basketry tours to Ireland, Scotland, Spain, France and Denmark, Wales and England, and Italy, visiting with basketry weavers in those countries and learning new skills with willow and other natural materials.

Instructor website: willowridgebaskets.com
Instagram: @willowridgebaskets

AUG 29-31 | 3-DAY (SAT-MON) 
Wire Weaving:
Drawing in 3D
Instructor: Hanna Vogel

All Levels
$410 Member | $440 Non-Member 
$85-$115 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

Explore the possibilities of woven wire for creating sculptural objects or to be incorporated into works of other media. You’ll learn weaving techniques to make everything from tiny basket forms to large scale installations with an emphasis on pattern and line quality in 3D work. Possibilities for including found objects and mixed media will be covered.

Hanna is an artist and educator living in Philadelphia, PA. She grew up in rural Northern California and received a BFA from the California College of the Arts and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. In her work, she uses craft-based materials and techniques in non-traditional ways to make sculptures and installations that explore aspects of entropy in the natural world. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, including at The Huntington Museum of Art, The Spartanburg Art Museum, Delaware Art Museum, and the Biblioteca Henestrosa in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has presented at conferences and published papers internationally and has received fellowships/grants from Yaddo, the California College of the Arts, I-Park, Sculpture Space, The Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation, and Lighton International Artist Exchange Program, among others.

Instructor website: hannavogel.com
Instagram: @hanna_c_vogel

SEPT 5-6 | 2-DAY (SAT-SUN) 
Papermaking:
Hold onto Your Deckle!
Instructor: Kerri Cushman

Beginner
$300 Member | $330 Non-Member 
$45-$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

In this 2–day workshop you will discover how to produce handmade paper with low-tech methods yielding high-end results. Experimenting with pigmented natural fibers (kozo, cotton, abaca), we will create a variety of sheets using western molds and deckle boxes. The papers formed will be pulled, poured, dipped, vacuumed, and stretched. You will be introduced to the world of surface design with room for creative experimentation. No prior experience required.

Kerri is a sculptural book artist and avid papermaker. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Know for her artist books, Cushman has shown her works in over 100 exhibitions nationally and internationally.  She teaches traditional papermaking, book arts, and letterpress printing at Longwood University in Virginia. Her innovative work was selected for the cover of 500 Handmade Books, and has been featured in  Hand Papermaking’s portfolio Fiber Exposed!, 500 Handmade Books vol. I & II, 1000 Artists’ Books, and 500 Paper Objects. She is the proprietor of Performing Goats Press.

Instructor website: kerricushman.com

SEPT 12-14 | 3-Day (SAT-SUN) 
Writers’ Retreat
Instructor: Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media

All Levels
$410 Member | $440 Non-Member

Engage in an immersive weekend of reading and discussing contemporary fiction, writing your own pieces of fiction, and workshopping the work of your peers in a supportive environment. Drawing from your surroundings at Touchstone Center for Crafts, learn to write from observations and how these observations can ground a story by giving it a strong sense of place. Looking at work from contemporary fiction writers, you will write from exercises / prompts to generate a body of work you can take home to revise and prepare for publication. This will all cumulate in a seminar on the ins and outs of submitting work for publication and how to manage your submissions. A workshop critique session will provide a starting point for revising a piece of your choosing. 

Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media’s writing program focuses on fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry writing in writers workshops where students generate new work and learn about important craft elements through critiques of their own work and the work of their peers. Whether you’ve been writing throughout the years or holding onto an idea and not sure where to start, our writing classes provide a supportive space to develop your skills and share with a variety of other writers. We are excited to be partnering with Touchstone to bring you this Writers’ Retreat!

website: Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media
Instagram: @pfpca

SEPT 26-27 | 2-DAY (SAT-SUN) 
The Art of Calligraphy
Instructor: Jim Lavrinc

All Levels
$300 Member | $330 Non-Member 
$20-$50 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List​​

Calling all lovers of letters! Come relax for a weekend and enjoy learning beautiful hand-written lettering. Lessons will consist of group instruction followed by one-on-one attention. Beginners will learn basic italic through individual guidance and group discussion. Experienced students will enhance their font style and create a finished, frameable piece you’ve been wanting to design and complete. Bring a creative attitude, a willingness to have fun, and your imagination!

Jim has been teaching lettering design for over 30 years. After graduating from LaRoche University with a degree in Graphic Design, he taught at CCAC, North Hills Art Center, Kaufmann’s, Three Rivers Art Festival, Fox Chapel Adult Education program & various community centers. Jim is an experienced logo designer and produces calligraphy for individuals and company clients. He is a proud member of the ACA, Association for the Calligraphic Arts and CGP, and the Calligraphy Guild of Pittsburgh.

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Workshops are filled on a first-come-first-served basis. Many fill quickly. Please register at least 15 days ahead of the start of any workshop so that we can count you in! Touchstone makes the determination of whether a workshop will run 14 days in advance of all workshops’ scheduled start date, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time. A processing fee of $15 will be added to 1-5 day workshops.

To view a full listing of the Terms and Conditions as part of your enrollment, click here.

Touchstone Center for Crafts prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or association preference. Touchstone Center for Crafts also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to its facilities and programming.