Dear Friends,


At first our seasonal break may have sounded like a drawback of our new location, but the forced pause in classes has given us some welcome space to prepare for what's ahead. We'll be growing our community in 2025, and we're excited to announce some of the ways we'll be doing that.


  • For one, we're hiring! We're looking for someone with a passion for helping others to learn who wants to join our team as an Instructor/Office Clerk.
  • We'll be debuting our first youth specific program (maybe ever?)! The future leaders of The Newbury School of Weaving are young people today, and we can't wait to welcome them into this 1,000-year-young weaving tradition.
  • This summer we'll host our first Spinning Frolic, a weekend dedicated to spinning yarn to be woven into blankets for those in need.
  • We're accepting applications for scholarships to alleviate some of the barriers to access that prevent our community from growing into as diverse a group as possible.
  • We're also offering special sessions of Foundations that occur over a series of weekends for those within driving distance who can't get away during the week.


How's that for down time? On behalf of our Board, best wishes this winter, no matter what the groundhog sees tomorrow.


Justin Squizzero

Director

We're Hiring!

Do you love weaving? Do you love history? Do you love organizing? Do you love helping people to discover what their hands can do?


If you answered yes to these questions, you might be just the right person to join our team as an Instructor/Office Clerk. We're looking for someone who's passionate about community, craft, and connection, and who's comfortable around a loom and with basic administrative skills. Applications are due by March 1, with a position start date in mid-April.

Learn more and apply here!

Our New Youth Program:

A Young Person's Guide to the Tape Loom*

Is there a curious youngster in your life who's ready for their first introduction to weaving? Do you want to try a new skill and share a new experience together? Come try tape weaving! This afternoon workshop is geared towards children ages eight and up accompanied by an adult. We'll use rigid heddle style tape looms to weave narrow bands called tape out of cotton yarn. For young people who get hooked, looms and yarns will be available to purchase and take home for continued exploration into the world of weaving. Click here for more information and to register!


*A nod to composer Benjamin Britten.

Spinning Frolic | Work Together for Good

June 28–29

Join your fiber friends for a weekend of spinning and socializing for a good cause! In the 18th century, spinning frolics were held as a way for people to come together and unite in a common task—spinning yarn. Often held at the home of a minister or on a town common, the yarn produced would be given to support the clergy or the poor at the end of the event. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, these frolics could take on a political meaning as well, promoting the virtues of homespun cloth over British imports.

 

Taking a cue from this tradition of working together and giving back to the community, The Newbury School of Weaving is proud to host our very own spinning frolic at our location on Newbury Common. We will provide wool roving and a noon-day dinner, you'll bring your spinning wheel of choice (antique wheels encouraged, but not required) and your love of spinning. At the end of the event, the yarn will be gathered up to be woven in the following months by Newbury's staff into blankets that will be given away to those in need. We'll have a few friendly competitions, (practice those niddy noddy winding skills!) and wheels on hand to give visitors a chance to try their hand at spinning. 


This event is FREE to attend, though donations to offset our expenses are welcome. Please register here to aid us in planning.

Scholarships

We recognize that for some members of our community, the costs associated with attending programs can pose a significant barrier to access. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships in 2025. A select number of scholarships are available to attend Fleece to Fulling and any of our five-day weaving programs. Awards cover half of the cost of tuition and are presented as discount codes to be applied when registering.


We acknowledge that craft education and learning experiences like the ones offered at Newbury have often been out of reach for many people in marginalized communities. Applicants who self-identify as members of these communities are encouraged to apply, though all for whom attendance poses a financial burden are welcome to submit an application. To determine your eligibility, learn more, and apply, visit our scholarships page.


If you're interested in endowing a permanent scholarship fund, please contact us.

Foundations | Weekend Sessions

Taking a full week off of work can be more than hard, it can be downright impossible for some folks. To help make our programs more accessible we're piloting two new weekend sessions of our Foundations class in May and September. The five-day class will run over three consecutive weekends, and space is limited to four students per session, so if this is an opportunity you've been waiting for don't delay to claim your spot.

A full listing of our programs may be accessed here. We hope you can join us!

Meet our Board

Please join us in welcoming Linda Gabrielson to our Board of Directors! Linda is actually returning to our board, having served when the nonprofit was reconstituted in 2015. If she looks familiar, it's not just déjà vu, you really have seen her before!


Linda Gabrielson is a retired college administrator, mother of three (Jeremy, Erin, and Gregg), grandmother of three (Neil, Ezra, and Willow), and wife of 50 years to Jeff Gabrielson. She is a lifelong fiber artist - knitting, sewing, spinning, felting, and weaving. She began studying weaving 10 years ago and splits her time between an antique counterbalance loom and a modern jack loom. 


Welcome aboard Linda!

As always, we can only do what we do with your generous support. Gifts of all sizes make a tremendous impact. Thank you.

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