'Making as Learning' Textiles Exhibition

Date: Thursday 17th October 12pm 

Research trip: 62 Group of Textile Artists exhibition at Salts Mill, Saltaire. 

Come join me, Faye Hall (BA Textiles tutor) for an afternoon visiting the latest exhibition, ‘Making as Learning’ by the prestigious 62 Group of Textile Artists at Salts Mill. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the 62 Group, it is a community of textile based artists and each year there are a selection of events or exhibitions where the artists are asked to respond to a new brief. The artists submit work for a rigorous selection process and the chosen works are curated for focussed exhibitions. 

Exhibition information: The 62 Group of Textile Artists are delighted to be celebrating their 62nd year. 

This year the exhibition at Salts Mill explores making and its influence on members’ textiles practice.

Artists have been asked to consider the relevance of Making as Learning to you as artists may be considered through a reflection on your notes, samples, yarn wraps, dye recipes, film stills, journals and sketchbooks. How you respond could include the tangible and intangible qualities of your making as learning, such as the invisibility of your research on a corrupted storage device, a fading discarded sample or smudged notebook page. If this is the case, what can we then learn from our making processes that become illegible or disintegrate over time?

Every artist will have a different interpretation on Making as Learning which will be reflected in the exhibition.

Alongside viewing the works as a group, I have arranged for one of the 62 Group’s members, Ealish Wilson, to come and talk with our OCA group about the exhibition and to show a handling collection. This is a wonderful opportunity to not only see work at a closer level, but to also ask questions or engage in conversation with an established artist with years of experience working in both the design and fine art sectors of textiles. 

You will have the option to partake in one or two informal creative tasks as well as being able to explore the rest of the mill. Salts mill has different floors filled with wonderful things; books, art, homewares, a jewellery gallery, as well as the Hockney: ‘A Year in Normandie’ exhibition that runs until November. Another exciting addition to the mill over the summer is the Peace Museum. You would be able to visit the collection of this organisation too if time allows. 

We will aim to be at the 62 Group exhibition in the mill and stay with each other for around 2.5 hours, but you would of course be welcome to get there ahead of the OCA session and/or stay until closing time (4pm), as well as exploring the famous Saltaire Village before your departure home. 

Other information: 

You might wish to eat lunch in the mill diner before we meet. If you wish to do this, it is advised that you pre-book as it can get busy around this time. If you would like to purchase food elsewhere, there is a small bakery just up from the station where you can buy sandwiches/ savoury pastries etc (Salts Village bakery), Digins Hut for burgers/fries, Giddy Arts for coffees/cakes. You might also wish to bring a packed lunch and eat it at Roberts Park or the grounds of the Reformed Church (a few minutes walk from the station). 

The closest train station is Saltaire. You can get a connection train to this station from either Leeds or Bradford Forster Square (depending on which station you arrive at from your original destination. It is literally across the road from the mill and a short walk to our meeting point at the main entrance (more information will follow to attendees). Access from the station to the mill includes a gentle incline up to the road, followed by either stairs or walking to a ramped entry from the road. The mill has both stairs and lifts throughout for full accessibility to the different floors. 

Please read these guidelines carefully to ensure that you are able to make the trip. 

You may wish to allocate individual spends for food, gallery/mill purchases, refreshments. 

What to bring:

Small notepad/sketchbook

Pen/small selection of drawing materials

Camera

Please note, you do not have to be studying textiles to attend this event! The artists may be textile based, but the work spans across many media; drawing, sculpture, time based work etc.