Learn the ancient art of weaving at the White River Craft Center at 50 Avenue, Randolph, VT. The Craft Center has all the equipment and materials you will need to learn to weave.

The class is taught over two weekends. The first class will be Sat. & Sun., Sept. 15 & 16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the second weekend is Sept. 29 & 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The date of the last two hours of class will be determined by the students which is a return loom and only a show and tell class.
This is an Introduction to Weaving & Open Studio class, which will cover learning the basics that turn yarn into a finished piece of fabric.  You will learn how to use a loom, measure a warp, dress the loom, and weave a sampler of different weave patterns, yarns and colors.  You will prepare and interpret weaving drafts and plan a project of your own choice from beginning to end.  We will discuss resources that will enable you to continue weaving at home.
If you have taken this class you may contact the instructor with a specific project you would like to weave. 

“Jack Rowell:  Cultural Documentarian” will be at the White River Craft Center in Randolph, Vermont, from July through October. The exhibit of 35 works by the Braintree photographer debuted at Studio Place Arts in Barre in May.

The show spans a more than 40-year career spent recording moments in the lives of authentic Vermonters: construction workers, musicians, politicians, anglers, pageant winners, and many others that, before Jack raised his camera and seasoned eyes to the task, were undiscovered personalities in our rural state. 

“It’s clear in his images that Rowell likes people — all kinds of people,” wrote arts correspondent Mary Gow in her review of the exhibit for the Times-Argus/Rutland Herald.” The photographs, she added, are “beautifully composed and convey the dignity, depth and authenticity of his subjects — and also their spirit of fun.”

Whether his subjects are in the studio or in available light conditions, Rowell masterfully considers the environment in which he operates and catches subtle shadows and variations of gray in his black and white images. His black and white portraits include an exceptionally wide range of tones between black and white.

“It’s the highlights and subtle differences in gray tones that distinguish his work as savory, fine art photographs,” commented Sue Higby, Executive Director of Studio Place Arts. “When he pulls out his gray card, I know that I’m in good hands.”  Higby has served as Rowell’s photo assistant on several shoots and knows well his exacting standards.

It is Rowell’s first solo show since “Big Fish and Good Lookin’ Women” at the Main Street Museum in White River Junction; he has threatened that it will be his last.  According to Rowell, “We called it that to rile up the politically correct folks.  It worked.”

Recently Rowell was involved in the show “The Hale Street Gang,” in which he photographed 12 elders who were involved in a memoir-writing workshop run by Sara Tucker at the Randolph Senior Center.  His large-scale black-and-white photographs depict their rich life stories, which were revealed in the traveling exhibition through excerpts from their memoirs.

“Rowell's photographs don't just sing; they bleed,” wrote Meg Brazill in her review of the new exhibit for Seven Days. “To be sure, some images exude joy, serenity or outright glee, but Rowell always captures a deep emotional connection and reflects it back to the viewer. For him, the eyes really are the windows to the soul.” 

A fifth-generation Vermonter, Rowell is quick to point out, in his irreverent and joking manner, that in a gallery setting, “black and white photographs are always regarded as art,” while color photographs are castigated as “smut.”  The show includes both types, and is weighted heavier on the “art” side with two-thirds printed in black and white.

Rowell’s show records the people we know in respectful, vivid detail and if there is a wistful reaction to the show, it is not because he has superimposed an artificial sense of romance on his subjects like some photographers; rather, it is because we long for the memory to record the details he has magnified through his practiced use of the lens.