Is there a craft or an aspect of your craft you would like to learn more about? Portland Handweavers Guild would like to give you money to do this!

The Portland Handweavers Guild encourages innovation, sharing, research and experimentation within the fields of weaving and spinning. In order to support members in their explorations, the guild offers an annual grant of  $1000 to a member who has a strong desire to learn and submits a proposal explaining what subject they would like to research and how they plan to accomplish their goal. The needed information is outlined in the downloadable flier (see below).

You must submit a grant proposal by April 30th to the grant coordinator. The proposals will be evaluated by a juror outside of the guild membership and whose identity will be anonymous until the winner is announced at the annual June meeting. 

The proposals will be judged on the following criteria:

1)    Merit of the project

2)    Contribution of the proposal to the weavers’/spinners’ technical and esthetic development

3)    Commitment of the applicant

4)    Benefit to the guild

Download the Information Flier  for the application process.

The winner of the grant may choose to present a program to the guild following the conclusion of the project, or may choose to write a paper to be included in the guild library.

Winners have been represented among both the guild’s professional and amateur members. The following examples show the wide variety of topics chosen:

2010-11 Pam Patrie will research the method of construction and weaving of the older and collectible paisley shawls. She offers to present her findings to the guild for both a day and an evening meeting, and is encouraged by the juror to write an article for a professional magazine.

2009-10 Teresa Ruch studied the deflection and distortion in weaving by use of fiber properties and gave a full presentation to the guild at the September 2011 meeting

2008-2009 Sarah Auker explored the process of weaving baskets on the loom and organized a full day’s workshop at the Multnomah Art Center for anyone interested in learning the technique.

Anita Osterhaug also received a grant that year to study Norwegian billedvev at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa. 

Check with the guild librarian, Blithe Jensen to find other examples of successful grant applications or contact the 2011-12 grant coordinator Eva Douthit

evanatdou@earthlink.net

2012 WeGO Scholarship

The Portland Handweavers Guild is one of four 2012 WeGO Scholarship recipients. The award is $200.00. We have until the end of the 2012 calendar year to use the scholarship.

The PHG board has decided to split up the award and use the funds to aid two novice weavers in their pursuit of weaving education.  The recipient must be a PHG member. Each will be awarded $100 to use for weaving instruction. Ideas are (but are not limited to): taking a workshop, class, or individual instruction. The recipient may be a novice, as in new to weaving all together, or someone who may have been weaving for a while but would like to learn a new technique.

Please send a brief description of the instruction you seek and why to:

Dianne Seymour

PHG WeGo Representative

15835 SW Redstone Dr

Beaverton, OR 97007

Oppstad.vever@gmail.com

Please limit your request to 200 words.  Applications due by March 28^th, 2012

Awards to be announced at the April meeting. Instruction must be completed by 12/31/2012.

Great news!   PHG applied to ANWG for a workshop grant and has been notified it has been awarded to us.
The proposal outlined the upcoming workshop by Sharon Alderman and requested $400 to be applied to its cost. This lowers the cost for all the workshop participants.

Various weaving organizations offer scholarships to weavers. As members of PHG, we are also members of a state group, Weaving Guilds of Oregon (WeGO); a regional group, Association of Northwest Weavers Guilds (ANWG); and a national group, Handweavers Guild of America (HGA). (These 3 groups are each separate entities.) These groups offer grants and scholarships off and on. The scholarships from ANWG and WeGO are offerred through PHG. PHG's representatives to those two groups let us know what is available. HGA lists their offerrings on their website.

Handweavers Guild of America      www.weavespindye.org

Association of NW Weavers Guilds   www.northwestweavers.org