The Center - Weavers' Guild of Rochester

Welcome to the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center!

To see course offerings, click COURSES or download the current BROCHURE

To register by mail, download a Registration Form.

To learn more about the Center, read on...

Since 2002, we have offered courses at all skill levels for youth and adults year round, days, evenings and weekends. Contact Us to ask a question or to learn more about teaching at the Center. Information on Registration and directions to our Location are all here on the website. Come take a course at ou rstudio location in Piano Works Mall, East Rochester.

The Center at Piano Works Mall--studio 1940

Let us introduce you to our Instructors who make the Center a wonderful learning place. Read artist statements and see examples of their work by visiting the Instructor page.

The Weaving and Fiber Arts Center is the primary outreach activity of the Weavers’ Guild of Rochester, a non-profit organization that has been part of Rochester’s arts and craft community since 1946. Managed entirely by volunteer guild members, The Center is supported financially by class tuition and tax-exempt gifts from individual Guild members and community supporters. With the continued support of our many contributors, we are able to provide a learning center for youth and adults living in Rochester and the surrounding area.

Keeping the Craft Alive: For many years, classes in weaving and other textile arts were offered at The Rochester Museum and Science Center. In 2001, the museum shifted its focus and closed the weaving facility to use the space for other purposes. The Guild acted promptly to fill the void and began to offer fiber arts classes for its membership and the community at large. The Center informs the public that weaving is a living craft. It is a resource to those interested in fiber arts and is an important portal for new Guild members. The Weaving and Fiber Arts Center opened its doors in January 2002 and continues to be an active and inspiring place to learn.

Our Studio: The Weaving and Fiber Arts Center is a fully equipped classroom studio in the Piano Works Mall. We have a weaving room with looms, related equipment, and spinning wheels for student use. There is access to weaving software and the internet for project planning. The fiber room is used for other fiber media, including wet facilities for dyeing and felting. It is an active, comfortable place to learn from enthusiastic and talented instructors.

Courses Offered: In keeping with our weaving heritage, we offer many weaving classes: working on traditional shaft looms, tapestry weaving, and learning to use “simple” equipment such as inkle looms [see the image on the left], triangular looms and tablet/card weaving.

Some classes emphasize hand manipulated fibers with no extra equipment: triaxial weaving, wheat weaving, and basketry. Other topics offered include: felting, spinning, knitting, kumihimo, crochet, beading, wire work, Precious Metal Clay jewelry, Poly-Clay, dyeing and surface design, shibori techniques, marbling, quilting, dragon boats, temari balls, coiling, tassel making, paper and book making, silk fusion, color exploration, sewing with handwovens, fabric and finishing for garments, and how to use computer weaving software.

Courses suitable for beginners to experts are scheduled in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, seven days a week, throughout the year, and are offered in differing formats: full-day and sequential-day workshops, half-day classes, and once-a-week classes. We encourage individuals to organize groups of four or more participants, and The Center will schedule a course by special request. Our instructors include Guild members and textile artists from Rochester and beyond. For detailed class listings, click on COURSES.

The Center is a learning place for weaving and the related fiber arts. Learning is the heart and soul of the Guild, and The Center is the best articulation of our mission.