REGISTRATION OPENS:

JANUARY 8 AT NOON

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One of seven courses available for the May 7 – 10, 2026
MCA Weekend Workshop @ Haystack
ALL WORKSHOPS

Resilient Systems: Experimental Textile Printing and Object Making

Instructor: Karen Gelardi
Haystack Studio: Fiber & Dye
Enrollment Limit: 10
Materials Fees: See section below
Level: All Levels Welcome

Class Description:

This workshop explores resiliency through observation, experimentation, and material transformation. Participants will begin with observational ink drawings on paper, inspired by textures, forms, and strategies found in the natural world. These drawings become the source material for creating handcrafted textiles and objects.

Using experimental small-scale dye sublimation processes, participants will transfer drawings and collages onto repurposed polyester textiles from the commercial textile industry. The workshop emphasizes the tension between organic processes and industrial materials, encouraging experimentation with cutting, piecing, stitching, and assembling to create two- and three-dimensional artworks and objects.

Materials + Fees: N/A

The instructor will be supplying the majority of the materials that participants will use during the weekend. Closer to the workshop date, participants will receive a materials list and will be required to bring the items with them.

Student Supplied Materials List:

  • Fabric shears*
  • Scissors (for cutting paper
  • Sketchbook for observations and notes
  • Optional if you like to work with precision—Self-healing cutting mat, X-Acto knife, matt knife, metal ruler
* A good quality pair of shears in good condition that has not been used for cutting paper will make it easier to cut up the fabrics we will be using. Any kind/brand will do. I like the KAI 7250 that I purchased from WAWAK, or the ones made by

About the Instructor-

Karen Gelardi is a Maine-based painter who employs both natural and industrial strategies to create and distribute new works. She investigates resiliency and adaptation through the production of organic imagery that can multiply, expand, and be reconfigured. Her “resilient drawings,” as she calls them, take the form of works on paper, fabric constructions, and mixed media assemblies. Gelardi has exhibited her work and projects at Curator and Coleman Burke Gallery in New York, Northern-Southern in Austin, Interloc art space, SPACE Gallery, Portland Museum of Art, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, the University of New England, and internationally as a participant in Andrea Zittel’s Smockshop project. She received a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. In addition to her artistic practice, she works as a designer at Designtex, focusing on low-waste textile design and collaborating with other artists and designers to create custom materials for the built environment.