January 20, 2024
Praxis Fiber Workshop builds the international community of fiber artists and makers through classes, workshops, residencies, and community projects that teach the art form and demonstrate how fiber arts can be used to build healthy, resilient and inclusive communities. Outreach projects include a community indigo garden in an abandoned lot in downtown Cleveland, a giant traveling loom, and massive collaborative textile banners which hung from the Detroit Bridge – just to name a few! Learn more about Praxis at www.praxisfiberworkshop.org.
Jessica Pinsky grew up in Akron, Ohio and moved to Cleveland in 2011 after receiving a BFA from New York University in 2006 and an MFA from Boston University in 2009. Her artwork bridges painting, weaving and sculpture and she is represented by Hedge Gallery in Cleveland, OH. In 2012, she worked closely with Cleveland Institute of Art to found Praxis Fiber Workshop, a community textile organization whose mission is to promote and educate the field of textiles. She is currently the Executive Director at Praxis and lives in the North Collinwood neighborhood with her wife and 3 year old twins.
Chad Troyer is a textile artist living and working in Cleveland, Ohio and works as the Digital Weaving Coordinator and a weaving instructor at Praxis Fiber Workshop. As an instructor, Chad teaches weaving and introduces the history of weaving to beginners. As the Digital Weaving Coordinator, they interact with and aid resident artists in their use of the TC-2, a digital jacquard loom. Their own work investigates landscape and environment, and the threads that connect community and family to our natural terrain. Warp and weft are reminiscent of latitude and longitude, and can become the markers of our own path through our life and our natural environment.
Will Grimm is a quilter and dyer living in Cleveland, Ohio. Grimm was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his grandmother taught him to sew at a young age. He attended the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6-12 school, majoring in visual art before graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fiber. Grimm’s work has been featured in publications such as Curated Quilts, Fiber Art Now, and BMoreArt, among others. Grimm has exhibited work nationally, including in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Diego, and Cleveland. He is currently the Program Manager at Praxis Fiber Workshop.