Whidbey Weavers recently moved the organization’s lending library and meeting place to the Pacific Northwest Art School on Birch Street in Coupeville.

The guild was established in 1969 and at one time during its 40 year history, members used to meet at the art school. Back then the art school was known as the Coupeville Arts Center, before its new name was launched in May. The guild’s most recent meeting place has been the Quartermaster Building at Camp Casey Conference Center.

“We are so delighted to return ‘home’ to the Pacific Northwest Art School,” said Paula Willstatter, guild president, in a news release. “We are excited about the new possibilities this synergistic partnership will create for the arts community and for both organizations’ members. We look forward to working with the newly-named art school.”

Moving the extensive lending library will allow better access to the collection for guild members, which includes new publications as well as old classics. A community of fiber artists, the guild’s 150 members extend well beyond Whidbey Island, coming from seven counties and one province. The large spinning community has members who raise sheep, alpaca, llamas, and dogs for fiber. Members range from beginners to production weavers and fiber artists, some who are nationally-recognized. Visit the guild's website at www.whidbeyweaversguild.org.

Both the guild and art school share the same mission of providing educational opportunities for their members. One emphasis of the Art School is on textiles and fiber arts, along with painting and photography. From July to October there are 13 fiber arts workshops scheduled at the art school which are open to the public, ranging from dyeing to quilt making. To learn more or to register, visit online at www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org.

To leave a comment, you will need to register an account with our site (or use your Facebook login).

We'll be gathering feedback on this process, so please give the new features a try and let us know how we can improve.