COMMUNITY EVENTS

Artist Talk: Cynthia Aurora Brannvall in conversation with Mirka Knaster

Saturday, May 14, 2022, 4-5:30pm

Location: Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) | 685 Mission Street | San Francisco

Admission: Free

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Organizer: Museum of the African Diaspora

Join us for a talk with Cynthia Aurora Brannvall in conversation with fiber artist Mirka Knaster about Brannvall's current exhibition on view in the MoAD Salon. The Threads that Bind is an allusion to a body of artwork rendered in textiles to evoke memory, presence, labor, trade, industry, slavery, luxury, baptisms, weddings, funerals, gender and history in the African diaspora. The concept and material of thread creates meaning as an ancestral carrier traveling through time across borders through voluntary and involuntary migration from one body to another. The bind refers to shared experiences of trauma, oppression and perseverance that cohere in Black identity. [Also note -- both are also member of the Textile Arts Council.]

The Work of Professional Embroiderer: Chrissie Juno Mann

Wednesday, May 25, 2022,  10am PT
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Admission: Free
Location: Online
Organizer: San Francisco School of Needlework & Design

Embroidery artist, Chrissie Juno Mann discusses her work, the history of animals in textiles and their historical symbolism in embroidery. Mann is based in the heart of the New Forest, in the UK, she is also the author of 50 Essential Blackwork Patterns. trained by The Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, Chrissie developed her skills to become a professional that specializes in hand embroidery.​

Patterns and Pieces, Whitework samplers of the 17th Century 

With Dr. Tricia Wilson Nguyen

Wednesday, June 1, 2022,  10am PT
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Admission: $10
Location: Online
Organizer: San Francisco School of Needlework & Design

Close study of the patterns and samplers of the last half of the 17th century can reveal many answers to the working of popular cut whitework techniques. From the fronts-pieces, pattern names, and subtle clues in the woodcuts we can tell which patterns were realistic and gave instruction to the reader and which were opportunistic prints by less-knowledgeable artists and likely unable to be worked. We can start to group these samplers based on technique and pattern and discuss the many conundrums that they hold.

The Art of Tambour Embroidery

With Bob Haven

Wednesday, June 8, 2022,  10am PT
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Admission: Free
Location: Online
Organizer: San Francisco School of Needlework & Design

Robert W. Haven, author of Tambour Beading and Embroidery has featured his award winning work for the Behringer Crawford Museum in Covington KY, the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge Ontario, as well as at the World of Wearable Art Museum, in New Zealand. Bob has also authored various articles for Vogue Patterns as well as Piecework Magazine. Haven will touch on the history and practice of using the techniques of Tambour work embroidery for the fashion industry as well as touch on his own methods of making and design.

Studying the Making of the Bayeux Tapestry

With Dr. Alexandra Makin

Wednesday, July 13, 2022,  10am PT
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Admission: $10
Location: Online
Organizer: San Francisco School of Needlework & Design

This presentation will take us into the world of the Bayeux Tapestry, but with a twist. We will focus on the reverse of this famous hanging, exploring what it tells us about how it was made. By analyzing the order of work and how threads were used, we will learn about the creation, and thought processes of the embroiderers. We will also explore how the workers were organized as stitchers, and what this tells us about the production of embroidery in 11th-century England. Dr. Alexandra Makin is a textile archaeologist specializing in early medieval embroidery and a professional embroiderer.

​A Conversation with Doug Kreinik from the Kreinik Manufacturing Company

Wednesday, July 27, 2022,  10am PT
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Admission: Free
Location: Online
Organizer: San Francisco School of Needlework & Design

Doug Kreinik will discuss with us the joys and challenges of running the thread brand company that we know and love! Kreinik Manufacturing Company began in 1972 when Jerry and Estelle Kreinik started selling portable cases made by Estelle to hold threads, needles, and stitchery projects. Today their son Doug Kreinik now owns the company. Doug and his crew have modernized the factory, housed in a renovated church building in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and have expanded their thread lines. Kreinik offers a variety of silk and metallic threads for hand and machine embroidery, plus real metal threads and iron-on fibers for embellishments.