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By Brynn Ward, Student | BA Art Education »
Bryan Ward’s embroidery project in process
This summer, I attended the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts receiving one of two scholarships awarded by the UCA Department of Art and Design, the Windgate Foundation and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts University Partnership Program. The scholarship allowed me to participate in a week-long workshop with Katherine Diuguid called “Flights of Floral Fancy,” where we studied the history of floral embroidery and learned how to embroider the techniques that we studied. Initially, I was a bit nervous to travel to Tennessee by myself, but as soon as I arrived on campus I knew that I was going to have an amazing experience. Arrowmont is inside the Great Smoky Mountain Range. I loved being surrounded by nature while I created art, and I even saw a bear during my trip! The atmosphere of the campus was both relaxing and inspiring, and I loved connecting with artists and students from a variety of backgrounds. Some of the people there were college students like myself, but many others were more experienced artists and craftspeople. I found their stories and advice inspiring. There were six of us in my workshop, all of us stitching and chatting together as we worked on our own personal projects. For my embroidery project, I chose to combine a variety of eco-printed fabrics with an image of a black-eyed Susan, the flower I saw most on the school’s campus.
Group photo of the Windgate University Fellows who attended Arrowmont workshop
Katherine Diuguid was an amazing teacher, and through this workshop I discovered how much I love the detailed art of embroidery. I chose this workshop because I was new to embroidery but I was interested in learning more about the art form. I’m not quite done with my project from the workshop, but with the instruction and feedback I received during the week I hope to finish it soon. I’m excited to keep working on my embroidery skills and to incorporate it into my art and art education career. I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity by the UCA Department of Art and Design, the Windgate Foundation, and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. I hope to go back again someday for another workshop, and I recommend that any art student who loves to learn and experience new things should apply for the scholarship through the art department.
