Wednesday, March 12, 6-7:30pm

TEXTITLES meetings take place at Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Road, Madison

Facilitator: Angela Johnson (@angelajohnsonartist)

Fee: Free! Registration is required, however, via the link below.

The reading for March is Kassia St. Clair’s The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History. From colorful threads found on the floor of an ancient Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that fueled the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread illuminates the myriad and fascinating histories behind the cloths that came to define human civilization―the fabric, for example, that allowed mankind to shatter athletic records, and the textile technology that granted us the power to survive in space. Exploring the enduring association of textiles with “women’s work,” Kassia St. Clair “spins a rich social history . . . that also reflects the darker side of technology” (Rachel Newcomb, Washington Post).

Participants are responsible for securing a copy of the book. It is currently available from Madison Public Libraries or for purchase on Amazon.

REGISTER

Facilitator Bio:

Angela Johnson is a professional artist, creativity coach and educator. She earned a master’s in Art Education, an MA in Art and an MFA with a focus in photography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of artistic expertise include art journaling, alternative photo processes, bookmaking and box making, Creativity Coaching, and installation art. Angela’s work includes themes of nature, balance, and telling stories through individual and collective memories. She often incorporates scientific elements and concepts into her work. Collaborations with other artists and scientists energizes her creativity.

Johnson is a fixture in the Wisconsin arts scene, with 20+ years of experience maintaining public art studios, teaching workshops, facilitating programs, leading public art installations and lecturing at universities. She has worked in museums, elementary schools, senior centers, colleges and universities. She has inspired and helped people of every age — from toddlers to 95-year-olds — reaching far into the depths of their imagination to discover and channel their creativity. She also teaches workshops on mindfulness and yoga.

Website: angelajohnsonartist.com

Social: @angelajohnsonartist

Wednesday, February 12, 6-7:30pm - CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

TEXTITLES meetings take place at Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Road, Madison

Facilitator: Angela Johnson (@angelajohnsonartist)

Fee: Free! Registration is required, however, via the link below.

This month’s Textitles theme is the STASH. The discussion will focus on a book and a podcast:

• A Stash of One's Own: Knitters on Loving, Living with, and Letting Go of Yarn by Clara Parkes. In tales from twenty-one knitters, Clara Parkes examines a subject that is irresistible to us all: the yarn stash. Anyone with a passion has a stash, whether it is a collection of books or enough yarn to exceed several life expectancies. With her trademark wry, witty approach, Parkes brings together fascinating stories from all facets of stash-keeping and knitting life--from KonMari minimalist to joyous collector, designer to dyer, spinner to social worker, scholar to sheep farmer.

  • Participants are responsible for securing a copy of the book. It is currently available from Madison Public Libraries or for purchase on Amazon.

• Pardon My Stash, episode April 11, 2024: “Probelmatic Stash Terminology.” It wasn’t that long ago that Tik Toks and Instagram reels about hiding stash took social media by storm. Individuals hiding their stash, sneaking it in, tiptoeing past finger-wagging spouses… you know the drill. At Pardon My Stash we’ve talked extensively about the issues we have with joking about hiding your hobbies from your partner, but what about the verbiage in the fiber arts community as a whole? Should we use words like “addicted” or “addict” when we are simply talking about enjoying purchasing yarn? Is talking playfully about an addiction problematic?

  • Listen online here: https://www.pardonmystash.com/problematic-stash-terminology

REGISTER

Facilitator Bio:

Angela Johnson is a professional artist, creativity coach and educator. She earned a master’s in Art Education, an MA in Art and an MFA with a focus in photography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of artistic expertise include art journaling, alternative photo processes, bookmaking and box making, Creativity Coaching, and installation art. Angela’s work includes themes of nature, balance, and telling stories through individual and collective memories. She often incorporates scientific elements and concepts into her work. Collaborations with other artists and scientists energizes her creativity.

Johnson is a fixture in the Wisconsin arts scene, with 20+ years of experience maintaining public art studios, teaching workshops, facilitating programs, leading public art installations and lecturing at universities. She has worked in museums, elementary schools, senior centers, colleges and universities. She has inspired and helped people of every age — from toddlers to 95-year-olds — reaching far into the depths of their imagination to discover and channel their creativity. She also teaches workshops on mindfulness and yoga.

Website: angelajohnsonartist.com

Social: @angelajohnsonartist

THIS SESSION OF TEXTITLES IS FULL. PLEASE EMAIL US TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITLIST.

Wednesday, December 11, 6-7:30pm

TEXTITLES meetings take place at Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Road, Madison

Facilitator: Angela Johnson (@angelajohnsonartist)

Fee: Free! Registration is required, however, via the link below.

Material Intelligence is a free online publication from the Chipstone Foundation. Each issue takes a deep dive into one commonplace material, used in all kinds of making. An offering to an increasingly digital age, Material Intelligence celebrates the human capacity to understand and shape the physical world around us.

For the December Textitles meeting, the discussion will focus on two issues of Material Intelligence: Nylon and Linen.

All issues of Material Intelligence are available online:

• Read the Nylon issue of Material Intelligence.

• Read Linen issue of Material Intelligence.

REGISTER

Facilitator Bio:

Angela Johnson is a professional artist, creativity coach and educator. She earned a master’s in Art Education, an MA in Art and an MFA with a focus in photography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of artistic expertise include art journaling, alternative photo processes, bookmaking and box making, Creativity Coaching, and installation art. Angela’s work includes themes of nature, balance, and telling stories through individual and collective memories. She often incorporates scientific elements and concepts into her work. Collaborations with other artists and scientists energizes her creativity.

Johnson is a fixture in the Wisconsin arts scene, with 20+ years of experience maintaining public art studios, teaching workshops, facilitating programs, leading public art installations and lecturing at universities. She has worked in museums, elementary schools, senior centers, colleges and universities. She has inspired and helped people of every age — from toddlers to 95-year-olds — reaching far into the depths of their imagination to discover and channel their creativity. She also teaches workshops on mindfulness and yoga.

Website: angelajohnsonartist.com

Social: @angelajohnsonartist

THIS SESSION OF TEXTITLES IS FULL. PLEASE EMAIL US TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITLIST.

Wednesday, November 13, 6-7:30pm

TEXTITLES meetings take place at Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Road, Madison

Facilitator: Angela Johnson (@angelajohnsonartist)

Fee: Free! Registration is required, however, via the link below.

Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. It’s human history told from a new, surprising perspective.

This is a globe-spanning history of sewing, embroidery, and the people who have used a needle and thread to make their voices heard. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry to the pink pussyhats of the Women’s March, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Topics covered include:

• The English royals

• The Catholic Church

• World War I soldiers coping with PTSD

• Maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World

• The AIDS quilt

• Hmong story clothes

• And much more!

Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing.

This is a thoughtful work of history and craft, full of little-known stories, and an evocative and moving book about the need we have to tell our story.

Participants are responsible for securing a copy of the book. It is currently available from Madison Public Libraries or for purchase on Amazon.

REGISTER

Facilitator Bio:

Angela Johnson is a professional artist, creativity coach and educator. She earned a master’s in Art Education, an MA in Art and an MFA with a focus in photography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of artistic expertise include art journaling, alternative photo processes, bookmaking and box making, Creativity Coaching, and installation art. Angela’s work includes themes of nature, balance, and telling stories through individual and collective memories. She often incorporates scientific elements and concepts into her work. Collaborations with other artists and scientists energizes her creativity.

Johnson is a fixture in the Wisconsin arts scene, with 20+ years of experience maintaining public art studios, teaching workshops, facilitating programs, leading public art installations and lecturing at universities. She has worked in museums, elementary schools, senior centers, colleges and universities. She has inspired and helped people of every age — from toddlers to 95-year-olds — reaching far into the depths of their imagination to discover and channel their creativity. She also teaches workshops on mindfulness and yoga.

Website: angelajohnsonartist.com

Social: @angelajohnsonartist

THIS SESSION OF TEXTITLES IS FULL. PLEASE EMAIL US TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITLIST.

Wednesday, October 9, 6-7:30pm

TEXTITLES meetings take place at Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Road, Madison

Facilitator: Angela Johnson (@angelajohnsonartist)

Fee: Free! Registration is required, however, via the link below.

On Mending by Celia Pym is a collection of ten stories of damaged garments – plus a rug and two backpacks - that Pym has mended . These stories describe the ways in which clothes and cloth become holed, why a damaged sweater or backpack can be emotionally affecting and how mending a garment can unstick a stuck feeling.

A fascinating insight into the work of a pre-eminent craftsperson, On Mending was inspired by Pym's experience of hearing intimate stories from people's lives, of loss and love, as a result of mending the holes in their clothes. Not a ‘how- to’ book, this is an in-depth look into the damage that we do, as manifested by our outer layers, our clothes.

Participants are responsible for securing a copy of the book. It is currently available for purchase on Amazon.

REGISTER

Facilitator Bio:

Angela Johnson is a professional artist, creativity coach and educator. She earned a master’s in Art Education, an MA in Art and an MFA with a focus in photography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of artistic expertise include art journaling, alternative photo processes, bookmaking and box making, Creativity Coaching, and installation art. Angela’s work includes themes of nature, balance, and telling stories through individual and collective memories. She often incorporates scientific elements and concepts into her work. Collaborations with other artists and scientists energizes her creativity.

Johnson is a fixture in the Wisconsin arts scene, with 20+ years of experience maintaining public art studios, teaching workshops, facilitating programs, leading public art installations and lecturing at universities. She has worked in museums, elementary schools, senior centers, colleges and universities. She has inspired and helped people of every age — from toddlers to 95-year-olds — reaching far into the depths of their imagination to discover and channel their creativity. She also teaches workshops on mindfulness and yoga.

Website: angelajohnsonartist.com

Social: @angelajohnsonartist