Learn from Great Arts Teachers

Martha Owen is an artisan/shepherd and resident artist at the John C Campbell Folkschool (www.folkschool.org) in Brasstown, NC. She oversees classes in spinning/knitting,crochet/feltmaking /surface design and dyeing. Her adventure in spinning began here in 1978.

I’m Hayk Barseghyan, an award-winning photographer and filmmaker based in Armenia, with nearly 20 years of experience capturing nature, cityscapes, and human stories through photography and film. My work has been featured by National Geographic and Al Jazeera, including a documentary on decades of displacement in Gyumri.

TahNibaa Naataanii is a traditional Diné woman, representing the Many Hogan Clan and Coyote Pass Clan. She hails from Table Mesa and Toadlena, New Mexico. TahNibaa was introduced to Navajo weaving by her mother, Sarah H. Natani at 7 years old. She learned to weave stripes first, then advanced to complex patterns.

Laura Nelkin lives in upstate New York, where the sunny season is short, leaving plenty of time to be indoors knitting. Though she has a degree in apparel design from Cornell University, she took to knitting years ago and hasn’t looked back.

My name is Olga. I have started my music journey when I was 5 years old, and since then never stopped. I have 30 years of teaching experience, 16 years of Russian musical education and graduated from Saint-Petersburg conservatoire, Russia, where my major was chorus director, piano and singing.

Amie is a lifelong fiber arts enthusiast who believes there are two types of projects: the ones that require concentration and those meant for meeting up to chat with fellow knitters and crocheters. She always has at least one of each in progress. Based in Durham, NC, Amie loves teaching for local yarn shops and regional fiber festivals.

Amelia Garripoli spins, weaves, cranks, and nalbinds her way through fiber festivals across America. Teacher, author, and fiber instigator, she sparks creativity in workshops, guilds, Zoom, articles, videos, and her books Productive Spindling and Power Spinning. A childhood immersed in needle arts led to a lifelong love of fiber arts. Find her at askthebellwether.com

Sarah Schira is known for #NeverNotGnoming but when she’s not knitting gnomes, she’s designing knitting patterns for everyday adventures. She loves to design accessories that look harder than they are, and that make you look great. She and her husband live in Manitoba, Canada, where they’ve raised their two kids to adulthood.

Chorus master and vocal coach, with a past career as both baritone and tenor in the Italian repertoire. My teachers include renowned singers from the golden age of opera, such as Silvano Verlinghieri and Luisa Malagrida, who performed on the world’s greatest stages.

Kathy Grace is a captivating watercolor, oil, and acrylic painter, teacher, and gallery curator who ignites the creative spark in hundreds of students. Many of her students have achieved the remarkable milestone of selling their original paintings in galleries.