About Pacific Textile Arts

Pacific Textile Arts is a non-profit organization devoted to furthering education, dialogue, and support for a broad range of textile and related arts. We are headquartered on the Mendocino Coast, but our membership now includes fiber people from all areas in California and many from out of state. With the help of generous donors, we have purchased property in Fort Bragg, California, which will soon serve as a small yet energetic center for the textile arts. The property is adjacent to the world renowned fine wood working studio run by the College of the Redwoods Fort Bragg Campus.

An old Victorian fixer upper is situated at the front of our property, leaving a more than adequate space behind on which to build several teaching studios.We have provided the house with a good foundation, fresh exterior paint and many other improvements. Two upstairs bedrooms are now serving as “demonstration” studios. A small front bedroom houses our rapidly growing library which boasts of over 1300 catalogued volumes covering every imaginable area of textile study. The former dining room was recently transformed into a very functional office space holding our files, archives, textile collection, desks and work tables for processing library books.

We hope to build four small studio living units to be rented to fine wood working or weaving students, bringing a steady source of income to make our whole operation self sustaining in the future. In the Fall of 2000, we constructed a storage shed near the rear of the old building to house some of the high quality equipment that has been donated to us. We are now rewiring the old house and will follow that with new plumbing and the renovation of the remaining rooms in the house. These will be used for hospitality, exhibit, and meeting space. Because of our proximity to the Fort Bragg Middle School and the Senior Center, many worthwhile activities designed for sharing skills with the young and the elderly will easily be carried out at this site.

What Are Textiles? — We can trace the history of man through the study of textiles. From the time of wearing skins to the earliest spinning of fiber, to the rich and diverse development of garments, bedding, home adornments for furniture and walls, we see the progression of our ways of maintaining body warmth and decor. The study of past household textiles and creation of contemporary wall coverings such as rugs and tapestries are both educational and valuable as a creative outlet in addition to providing employment. Spinning, weaving, surface design on cloth, knitting, crochet, ornamental braiding, embroidery and lace making are just a few of the textile activities which come to us from the past and which deserve to be studied and preserved. There is a vast cottage industry available for people who must, or who prefer to work at home, especially those caring for small children or elderly family members.

A Special Need — Over the last few years, many art centers and schools, colleges and municipal facilities have decided to curtail the availability of space designated for looms and surface design print tables. This is perhaps necessary in today’s economy, but it has a tragic effect on the people who have received some training and are in need of more. Many people depend on these skills for a large part of their livelihood.

Filling The Need — It is our intention to construct three studios, built to the standards required by community college teaching sites, that can be used by both college textile arts classes and other programs sponsored and co-sponsored by Pacific Textile Arts. Using these studios, we can fulfill our mission of educating people about all the textile arts through classes, demonstrations, exhibitions, and offering the use of our library

Educating and Communicating —
A modest membership fee ($15 per year) allows access to our fine textile library. Library hours are from 1:30 to 3:30 every Thursday afternoon and by appointment. Members may borrow books for one month at a time. Membership also brings you quarterly issues of the PTA Newsletter. This newsletter informs members about our many yearly activities, classes sponsored by us and textile classes sponsored by the Mendocino Art Center, as well as museums and guilds on the central and north coast of California.. It announces our spinning vents and the availability of equipment which can be rented from Pacific Textile Arts for modest fees. Payment may be made in cash or in volunteer hours. Annual fundraising events announced include the Spin-A-Thon, held the first week in July, and our “Quality” Rummage Sale and Silent Auction held in June. You will also read about our annual “Feather In The Cap Award” potluck dinner and membership meeting held in March this year. Informal spin-ins are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. The newsletter offers book reviews covering books of special interest which are contained in our library. Many of these reviews are contributed by members with special expertise in certain areas of textile study and/or production.

Demonstration Studios — The public is invited to watch spinners and weavers at work in our two Alger Street demonstration studios. Open studios are announced in the newsletter.
For a special anappointment to visit, call 707/964-3600.

California Rug Project — Some years ago Vicki Fraser begain an ambitious project of making an oriental style rug out of materials grown, spun and dyed in California. Its progress has been fascinating to watch. The project began under the sponsorship of the Mendocino Art Center and that sponsorship was transferred to Pacific Textile Arts several years ago. It is now two thirds of the way toward completion. Check its progress in this website (California Rug Project) and contact Vicki for appointment to view the real thing in Mendocino. See photo below.

View of California Rug Project showing uncut knots,
handspun warps and a section of the design cartoon.

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