July 13 & 14, 2017 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Bloomington, Indiana
Registration Deadline: July 3, 2017
[Image left: Harvesting indigo at Hart Farm, photo credit Jean Haley; image right: Ricketts’ dye studio, photo credit Rowland Ricketts]
Registration Details:
Registration opens May 24. Registration is limited to members for the first week of registration and opens to non-members on May 31. Join at anytime to ensure your space in these popular programs.
Member Rate: $300
Nonmember Rate: $350
Student and New Professional Member Rate: $100
The deadline for scholarship applications has passed.
For questions about the program please contact Rowland Ricketts
For questions about registration please contact Caroline Charuk
Program Description:
Ever thought of the small-scale farming of indigo as a romantic prospect? Spend two days harvesting indigo & dyeing with Rowland and Chinami Ricketts in the Indiana summer – we’ll get you hooked on this incredible dye while simultaneously disabusing you of any romantic notions of hands-on farming you may have! Each day will be spent harvesting, drying, and winnowing indigo, with escapes from the heat to dye with fresh indigo leaves as well as in the Ricketts’ fermentation vats. If weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll visit Bill Itter’s studio to see some of his extensive collection as well as spend more time dyeing. Lunch and dyeing materials will be provided. This will be a very hands-on, physically active two days.
Expert Guides:
Rowland Ricketts utilizes natural dyes and historical processes to create contemporary textiles that span art and design. Trained in indigo farming and dyeing in Japan, Rowland received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2005 and is currently an Associate Professor of Studio Art at Indiana University. His work has been exhibited at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Rowland is a recipient of a 2012 United States Artists Fellowship and a 2014 Martha Stewart American Made Award.
Chinami Ricketts is a weaver who crafts traditional narrow-width yardage for kimono and obi using historical kasuri (ikat) techniques. After studying indigo dyeing in her native Tokushima, the center of indigo cultivation and processing in Japan, Chinami pursued an apprenticeship with Yumie Aoto, where she learned the kasuri and weaving techniques that form the foundation of her work today. Her weavings have been exhibited in the US and Japan, and she is a recipient of a 2014 Martha Stewart American Made Award.
Read more: http://www.rickettsindigo.com
Itinerary:
July 13
9:00AM Spreading out indigo from the previous day’s harvest
10:00 – 12:00 Fresh leaf dyeing
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Winnow indigo
2:00 – 3:00 Drive to Hart Farm
3:00 – 4:00 Harvest at Hart Farm
4:00 – 5:00 Return to Bloomington
Evening – dinner on your own + good night’s sleep!
July 14
9:00AM Spreading out indigo from the previous day’s harvest (optional)
10:00 – 12:00 Bill Itter’s collection
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Winnow indigo
2:00 – 3:00 Drive to Hart Farm
3:00 – 4:00 Harvest at Hart Farm & fresh leaf dyeing
4:00 – 5:00 Return to Bloomington
General Notes:
– This will be a very active, mostly outdoors workshop in the summer heat. Be sure to bring sunscreen, hat, appropriate work clothes, appropriate foot wear, water bottle, etc.
– Participants will be responsible for their own travel to and from the Ricketts studio and the indigo fields as well as hotel, breakfast & dinner each day.
Rain Plan:
If it rains we won’t be able to harvest indigo. If the weather is uncooperative we will expand the time we spend dyeing by adding resist techniques like stenciled paste resist. We will also visit the home of Bill Itter’s to see his extensive and wide-ranging collection of textiles as well as works by his late wife Diane Itter.
Textiles Close Up is a series of study-workshops launched in 2013 that provides opportunities to examine textiles in leading museum and private collections, guided by renowned experts. Workshops focus on the exploration of the materials, techniques, styles, culture and history of selected textile traditions, which vary for each event. The format offers first-hand, close-up viewing of textiles in the storerooms, laboratories and study rooms of various institutions offering unprecedented access and learning opportunities.
