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Arts & Entertainment

Textile Arts: More Than Crafts

The Gowanus based Textile Arts Center is growing.

Fiber art is hot this summer, and 505 Carroll Street is bursting at the seams with creative pursuits.

At the Textile Arts Center, the Gowanus educational and creative hub dedicated to the art of working with textiles, to say there's a lot going on would be an understatement. Two floors boast artwork by local artists, kids and adults take classes downstairs alongside professional weavers and screen-printers and seasoned professionals are welcome come and weave, dye and screenprint in this 3,200 square foot, bright, bustling, felt-covered converted sweater factory.

General manager and co-founder of the Textile Arts Center Owyn Ruck says the goal of TAC is to "provide a resource center and creative meeting place" for those interested in textile arts, regardless of experience or level of knowledge of textile arts.

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First and foremost though, says Ruck, teaching is paramount. Through events and community work at the TAC, education is the main directive.

"Everything we do has an educational component to it," says Ruck.

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Adult programs include a four week long class on either weaving, dyeing, knitting, or sewing – "pretty much everything in the textile arts," said Ruck.

There are after school programs for kids and a summer camp, and the TAC also hosts events like birthday parties and field trips. There are also options sometimes available during the school year, during school breaks.

An important issue in the forefront of TAC mind is to separate textile work, a skill historically dominated by women, from craft; to elevate it out of the realm of "arts & crafts." The general consensus, says Ruck, is that textile art is not art in the same sense as other forms – fine art, for example. People also forget how important textiles are to fashion, she says, and in New York City, "fiber art is often neglected."

"It's artwork," she said. "It doesn't need to be labeled as 'craft.' But artists that do it still get labeled as doing 'craftwork.'"

"That's a lot of where the education that TAC offers comes in," she added.

For those keeping the financial belt tight, there is a selection of free and low-cost workshops and artist talks held at TAV, including those built into the Play exhibit, a show curated and featuring artists handpicked by Joetta Maue, who curated TAC's Cutting Edge exhibit in September.

Ruck says the inspiration for Play, which features pieces such as a soft sculpture of a bike by artist Katya Usvitsky, came from Maue "seeing stuff pop up [during Cutting Edge] that was playful," she said.

So for Play, Maue "put out an international call." Play features two days of artist talks and workshops on June 12 and 13, and the exhibit is up until June 24. The public can participate in as many or as few workshops as they'd like.

Play is on show on the first floor, where the educational programs take place, while the second floor of 505 Carroll is used as TAC's dedicated art gallery. Currently exhibited is Good Work, curated by Tali Weinberg. The idea of having an exhibit on both floors, particularly on the first floor where classes and after-school programs take place, according to Ruck, is for the artwork to take place "in the same space where you're learning."

TAC is growing, too – into a new space in Manhattan. In line with TAC's lofty goals, an expansion to Manhattan is in the works as well. There is demand for TAC's services across the river, which Ruck and her team have recently decided to satisfy.

"The idea of expanding came because eighty percent of our students are coming from Brooklyn and few are coming from Manhattan," said Ruck. "Brooklyn is still seen as the outskirts and not everyone is willing to cross the river. There's no reason for us not to have some kind of presence in Manhattan."

The space in Manhattan is smaller, she says, but can hold a small amount of retail – items such as materials and equipment like Singer sewing machines will be for sale, and the space will operate much like a pop-up shop and gallery with a specific rotating theme. Construction has begun at the space, which is on West 8th between Fifth Avenue and MacDougal Street, in Greenwich Village. Enrollment for courses in Manhattan is currently offered on the website.

Whichever side of the river, there's something for everyone at TAC, from knitting noobs to seasoned pros, both young and old.

"Our mission is to preserve the textile arts," said Ruck. "What better way than through education?"

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