Summer fiber arts classes and workshops offered at IS183

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IS183, Art School of the Berkshires, is offering a wide variety of fiber arts classes and workshops in July and August. Fiber arts encompasses artmaking and fine craft techniques using fabric, thread, paper and pulp, natural materials including wool and plant materials, and much more. Summer classes in IS183's Fiber Arts Department include basketmaking, felting, quilting, and weaving, and weekend workshops in shibori dying and block printing are also offered. Every other week on Thursdays and Fridays, beginning July 10th, Judith Stonier leads a class in "Handloom Weaving" at her weaving studio in Egremont. Students can create throws, wall hangings, pillows or other items from fabric they have designed and woven on the loom. The class is open to both beginning and the experienced weavers. Judith Stonier led the Handloom Weaving program at Bradford College in England, teaching weaving, spinning, dyeing, cloth analysis, cloth finishing and fabric design. Sheffield resident Janet Reich Elsbach will be leading two felting classes this summer at IS183. The first, an introduction to felting entitled "Felting I: Instant Gratification for the Impatient and Uninformed" will be held on Tuesdays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm beginning July 15. Over four sessions, students will complete a wet-felted evening bag or small tote and accessories, using a sampling of resist techniques, as well as a three-dimensional rendition in fiber of their favorite piece of summer produce. The truly impatient will have time to nose into other areas as well, and all will leave with the skills necessary to replicate the projects at home. In "Felting II: Further Adventures in Felting," beginning Tuesday, August 12th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, continuing students from the above course and others with experience will learn laminated or "nuno" felting and cobweb or lace felt techniques and complete an assignment of their own ambitious design, with the goal of deepening and stretching the connection to techniques already mastered. In Wendy Jensen's Basketmaking class on Mondays, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, beginning July 16, students will learn basic basketmaking techniques using flat rattan and then move on to more advanced baskets and techniques. Techniques will include weaving, shaping, rimming, scarfing and handle making. Wendy Jensen, who lives in Great Barrington, MA, has been an award-winning professional basketmaker for the last twelve years, and exhibits her work at juried craft shows and galleries nationally. Thursdays, beginning July 17th, from1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Jude Patoka will be teaching "Quilts: A Contemporary Art Approach." While the art quilt's roots remain in the tradition of fine quality handwork, contemporary artists are using this medium to create original works, intended only for walls. This course is structured around in-depth skills with the main focus on the creative process of producing original art. Color, design, surface embellishments, 3-D techniques, artistic expression and inspiration development will be covered. Jude Patoka holds a BFA from the University of Northern Colorado. The quilt has been her primary medium of choice for the past eighteen years. Her original award-winning quilts are shown in juried national and international quilt shows and have been published. She lectures and teaches throughout New England and lives in Pittsfield. The weekend of July 19 & 20, Vermont resident Joan Morris will offer a weekend workshop in "Shibori with Vegetal Dye Extracts" where students will explore both the ancient Japanese art of shibori dying and the use of natural plant dyes, including a brilliant yellow derived from the osage tree and coral oranges from madder root. In August, a weekend workshop on hand block printing on fabric will be presented by Nicole St-Pierre. In this workshop, scheduled for August 16th & 17th, students will hand carve rubber blocks and use them to print on fabric, which can then be used to create pillows, scarves, garments, and more. To register or for more information about any of the summer fiber arts programs at IS183, or to request a catalog, please call 413-298-5252 or visit IS183's website at www.is183.org. Needs-based tuition assistance is available for all IS183 classes, and there are specific scholarships available to K-12 teachers, thanks to a foundation grant. Both work exchange opportunities and partial scholarships are available. IS183, Art School of the Berkshires, is a community-based, not-for-profit art school offering classes, workshops, artist talks, gallery exhibitions and other arts programming year-round in the studios of its historic schoolhouse home in the Interlaken village of Stockbridge, MA, located at 13 Willard Hill Road, off Route 183 via Trask Lane. Office and gallery hours at the school are 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, and visitors are welcomed.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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