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Course Descriptions

The 2008-2009 program is underway and is no longer accepting applications Next program starts: Autumn 2008 Details will be posted in Spring Program location: UW campus, Seattle Sign up to receive e-mail updates >> Contact a program representative >>   Check out the 2008 schedule of exhibits, readings and showings by students in UW Extension arts and writing programs >>   Take a look at works done by 2007 Fiber Arts students >>

Autumn Course

The Creative Process and Fiber Art

Schedule: (10 sessions) Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Sept. 30-Dec.9, 2008, (no class Nov. 11); $622; 3 CEUs.
Instructor: Layne Goldsmith

This course will help you learn about yourself, your art, and how to put what you know about yourself into your art. To help you reach this goal, this course will teach you:

• To appreciate the central role of materials and their meaning
• The importance of tactility and physical connectivity with your materials
• To collect and use new materials to develop your own unique vocabulary
• To develop a rich and productive studio practice and keep a studio journal
• To explore how other fiber artists generate and bring their ideas to fruition
• To experiment in an ongoing way, enabling you to continue to stretch beyond your current work

Winter Course

Conceptual Strategies in Fiber Art

Schedule: (10 sessions) Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Jan. 6-March 10, 2009; $622; 3 CEUs.
Instructor: Michael Cepress

Students will learn to engage in conceptual strategies to identify an idea, emotion, or experience in order to generate fiber art pieces that "speak." The course will use the history of art and craft as a springboard for future thinking, experimentation, discussion, and creation of your own work in class and outside. As an overview of practices by key artists is presented, students will be challenged to hone their own thinking and studio practices. Topics will include:

• Collage
• Sculpture in fiber art
• Printed patterns and surface design

Spring Course

More Conceptual Strategies and Professional Practices

Schedule: (10 sessions) Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 p.m., March 31-June 2, 2009; $622; 3 CEUs.
Instructor: Laura Wright

This course will focus on professional art practices to prepare for the culminating art exhibition in a public venue, which students will curate, market, and hang. You will learn:

• Different approaches to working, exhibiting and sharing your work, including gallery and retail space, site specific work, and community based projects
• Techniques for display and presentation
• Writing the artist statement
• Documentation and publicity, including slides, digital images, press releases, and postcards
• Ways to secure funding, including residencies, grants, and juried exhibitions