Fibershed Learning Center
The Fibershed Learning Center is a multi-use space to demonstrate the connections to natural fiber and dye systems, and part of the Black Mountain Ranch community of agrarians and artists located in Point Reyes Station, California. We are working and learning within traditional Coast Miwok Territory and collaborating with tribal community members to support, enhance, and care for essential plant populations that are key for the health of the ecosystem and multi-millennia honed agricultural practices.
Our garden includes an array of crops from multiple ancestral lines and long classical breeding histories, all of which we grow seasonally for pigment, dye, and fiber. The crops we tend and harvest are used to support an array of soil-to-fashion activities, ethnobotanical practice, and skill building workshops that we offer to the community. We provide scholarships and fellowships to support the deepening of our cross cultural learning and appreciation for people and land.
Learning Center Purpose & Vision
Fibershed has felt the need for some time to create a grounding force that serves in our effort to enliven our community’s connection to regional and regenerative fiber and dyes. We are grateful to have an opportunity to hold space for activities and community resources. The Learning Center:
- Serves key hands-on textile education opportunities for the public. (Scroll down for a list of workshops and links to register.)
- Supports a demonstration garden for growing materials and showcasing how earth pigments can be grown and processed, along with food and medicine
- Hosts public presentations and intentionally designed gatherings that focus on bringing people together to learn and discuss the greatest and most concerning issues of our time
- Offers direct opportunities to engage in climate and cultural solutions that we can work together to activate at the local level
- Houses a living library of our bioregional textile culture that exists as a feature for students, designers, and makers, and will house a natural dye and fiber seed library
- Provides a multi-use space for core organizational functions, including our staff and board meetings and strategic planning
In-Person Workshops & Events
Hands-on Workshops
To view our upcoming classes, please see Fibershed’s Events Calendar.
For the most up-to-date list of upcoming classes, you can also go directly to the Fibershed Eventbrite to check for classes as soon as they become available.
Documenting Diversity: A Bioblitz of the Fibershed Watershed ft Damon Tighe
Sunday, April 27 · 10am – 2pm PDT
Flax Processing with Sandy and Durl of Golden State Linen
Saturday, May 17 · 10am – 4pm PDT
Vegetable Tanned Leather Clutch with Teale Thompson
Sunday, May 18 · 10am – 4pm PDT
Intro to Bio Plastic Design with Olivia Cueva
Saturday, May 31 · 10am – 4pm PDT
Natural Palettes: Late-Spring to Summer Dyes, with Sasha Duerr
Sunday, June 8 · 10am – 4pm PDT
WAX / THREADS / ROOTS – Batik, with Babaran Segaragunung Culture House
June 21 · 10am – June 22 · 4pm PDT
Wild Basketry – Invasive Plant Cordage and Coiled Basketry, with Julia Han
Saturday, June 28 · 10am – 4pm PDT
Wild Basketry – Invasive Plant Twined Basket (& Hand Broom) with Julia Han
Sunday, June 29 · 10am – 4pm PDT
Help the Kelp: Create Natural Dye with Sea Urchins, with Seelie Studio
Saturday, July 12 · 10am – 4pm PDT
Proceeds from each event support the class instructor and contribute to Fibershed for educational programming.
Tuition Scholarships
Fibershed is offering scholarships to most workshops; one scholarship if it’s a small class. If you would not otherwise be able to attend, and would like to be considered as a scholarship and/or stipend recipient, please answer a few brief questions on this Scholarship Application. Responses will be reviewed by Learning Center staff and kept strictly confidential.
Past Workshops & Demonstrations – Videos on Demand
During 2020, when it was not feasible to offer in-person events, we began offering a series of online demonstrations and classes via Zoom, taught by Northern California Fibershed Producer Network members. Videos of these events are available on Fibershed’s Vimeo On Demand channel, and links to each video can be found below.
Producing & Processing Pigment & Fiber:
- Growing & Processing Flax with Sandy Fisher of Chico Flax
(California Indian Basketweavers’ Association selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Japanese Indigo, Seed to Seed, with Craig Wilkinson of Craig’s Indigo
(Daily Acts selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - The Beauty & Strength of Native Plant Fibers with Redbird
(Buckeye Gathering Native Youth Scholarship Fund selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds)
Knitting & Weaving:
- Knitting with Farm Yarns with Gayle Ravenscroft
(Sisters United selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Learn How to Weave on a Rigid Heddle Loom with Robin Lynde
(Stebbins Cold Canyon Preserve at UC Davis selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds)
Sewing:
- Tips for Sewing Jeans with Dan DiSanto
(Urban Tilth selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Tips for Sewing Shirts with Dan DiSanto
(Urban Tilth selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds)
Pigments & Dyes:
- Dyeing with Summer Flowers with Deepa Natarajan
(Urban Tilth selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Japanese Indigo Extraction with Judi Pettite of BioHue
(Museum of the American Indian selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Paints, Inks and Stains Using Indigo with Judi Pettite of BioHue
(Museum of the American Indian selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Making a Lake Pigment: the alchemy of solid pigments from natural dyes with Judi Pettite
(Sogorea Te’ Land Trust selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Natural Paints and Pigments with Judi Pettite
(Urban Tilth selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Wild Inks from Natural Pigments with Judi Pettite
(Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Direct Application Design: hand painting with natural pigments on fabric with Judi Pettite
(Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds) - Natural Palettes: inspiration from plant-based color with Sasha Duerr
(Urban Tilth selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds)
Shoe Making:
- SHOES: components, repair, and making your own from scratch with Rachel Corry
(Social Justice Sewing Academy selected as the recipient of a donation from class proceeds)
