This June we will be “Weaving Webs” in Yakima as our guilds come together to celebrate in-person learning with the great teachers of today. Come join us as we create a space where weavers and fiber artists can share their work, celebrate skill and creativity, broaden our community and enrich our lives by sharing our passion for fiber.
Did you know the first western regional weaving conference was hosted by Seattle Weavers Guild in 1957 under Virginia Harvey’s leadership? For five dollars, the three-day conference offered three workshops, an untold number of lectures, a style show and a weaving exhibit. Not until eight years later did the guilds of the region begin to take turns hosting a biennial regional conference, as they worked to develop the organization we now know as ANWG. The Portland Handweavers Guild led with “Jewels in Nature” in 1965. Spokane Handweavers Guild, followed in 1967 with “Fantasy of Threads.” In September of 1969 Seattle hosted “the Pacific Northwest Weavers Conference” at the University of Washington HUB ($10 all inclusive!).
Another momentous event in the weaving world occurred in October 1969, with the formation of Handweavers Guild of America.
Our regional effort to provide weaving education continued with Portland hosting in 1971. In 1973 the Greater Vancouver Weavers and Spinners hosted the 6th Biennial Pacific Northwest Handweavers Conference with the theme “Weaving in Totem Land.” The following year, the first Convergence Conference was held in San Francisco. Then, after eighteen years of working together, the Conference of the Association of the Pacific Northwest Weavers’ Guilds was hosted in Pullman by the Spokane Handweavers Guild in 1975, with the theme, Weaving West.
Fifty years later, ANWG maintains its mission of providing ongoing, high quality educational programming for weavers and those in the allied arts of basketry, spinning, dyeing, felting, braiding; supporting as well, scholarship in the history of textiles, fashion, techniques and traditional skills.
Since 2001, Seattle Weavers Guild has sponsored two annual awards in honor of our former member Virginia Harvey. In addition to being a past president of the Guild, Virginia was an accomplished weaver, artist, educator and museum curator. She is the author of books and monographs on basketry, macrame, split ply twining, and the Bateman weaves. The Virginia Harvey awards are given for best use of design, and best use of color, and are awarded alternately at ANWG (odd years) and HGA Convergence (even years). Award recipients receive $150 each.
Let’s do our part as guild members to carry on the tradition of working together to initiate new programs and support the rich in-person experience of gathering together to learn and celebrate our craft. Please join us in Yakima for ANWG 2025.
Conference Registration – the package rate is available until Sunday, March 23.