YCA TEXTILES Your Inner Animal with Bay Woodyard and Bear Epp!
Join YCA for our first-ever textiles course! In ‘Your Inner Animal’, students will explore contemporary textile approaches as they work on a soft sculpture to be exhibited at Gather in the County, a modern textile market, in Spring of 2026. Topics covered will include elements of design, colour theory, art history, and various methods of textile construction and embellishment. Skills acquired include pattern making, natural bundle dyeing, upcycling, applique, embroidery and other specialized techniques. During this 6 week course, students will gain confidence and pride as their piece develops into a work of art.
Your Inner Animal starts September 25 and runs from 3:30-6pm on the following Thursdays: September 25, October 2,9,16,23,30. Participants are invited to join us before the start of each session from 3-3:30pm for a snack in the new Arts & Crafts Library.
SAVE 75% ON REGISTRATION FEES!Thanks to a special partnership with Rue Pigalle, a discounted rate will automatically apply at the time of registration for ALL participants. No application is required. Why this generous discount? Rue Pigalle believes that as a practice and career, craft is a joyful and optimistic way to address the serious issues of sustainability, skills transmission, material literacy, community economy, and equality.
If this discounted rate still remains a barrier, please reach out to Program Lead Katrina Tompkins at [email protected].
ABOUT YOUTH CRAFT ACADEMY
Launched in fall 2023, this unique, hands-on program is designed for youth ages 12-16 with an interest in making or curiosity about materials. Participants will learn, play, and build in a variety of mediums such as clay, wood, glass, metal, and fibre to create functional and decorative objects.
The program is delivered by professional designers, makers, artists, and other members of the craft sector. Youth are encouraged, but not required, to participate in all four courses per year.
Click here to learn more about Youth Craft Academy and follow us on Instagram!
Meet Bear and Bay!
Bay Woodyard has been studying natural dyes for decades. She graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1994 in Drawing and Painting. She has lived and worked on her honey and herb farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario for 25 years. Bay is an artist who works with traditional craft techniques to create contemporary textile art inspired by the natural world. She uses local wool and natural dyes to create her colour palette and through the meditative act of hand spinning, knitting and crochet these bits of fluff emerge into emotive organic art.Together Bay Woodyard & Bear Epp curate textile events under Gather in the County, including their annual marketplace which showcases the diversity and versatility of textile works by artists, traditional crafters, and contemporary makers.
Art supply fee - Please note that the cost of supplies is not included in the course fee; this amount depends on the course, and will be automatically added to your total. If this cost is prohibitive for you, please contact Katrina at [email protected] before registering to make alternative arrangements.
Offline registration - We prefer to take payment and registration through this form, but if you are not comfortable with this option and it is more than 2 weeks before the course begins, please check the "Offline" box in the Billing Information section below. We will contact you with alternative payment options. Payment must be received at least one week before the course begins.
Processing fee - This covers transaction and ticketing fees. We've decided to use Regfox, the most affordable ticketing platform we could find, which will collectively save our participants over $1000 in processing fees per year.
Policies and Waivers - We've included these as part of the registration process (thank you for your patience!) to save some paperwork on your end and get straight to art making when we are in person!
We encourage those who are able to pay a little more to choose this price . By doing so, you are helping build a community that prioritizes access to the arts for all, and allowing us to cover more of our operating costs, which include Artist Instructor fees, rent, and more.
This price allows us to cover most of the costs of running the course.
This price is available to those who find the other two options too high for their household.
