Fuel the next generation of makers this #GivingTuesday —

Support EVFAC’s Youth Fiber Studio program!

Giving Tuesday is a global movement and day of generosity that encourages people to give back to their communities through donations, volunteering, and acts of kindness. Since 2012, it always takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, responding to the commercialism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday and focusing on charitable giving and community support. 

EVFAC’s Youth Fiber Studio provides free, hands‑on arts education for local youth through summer camps, paid internships, and public‑school enrichment. It first connects young people to the joy of making and eventually to heritage‑based economic opportunities in partnership with local artisans, such as the Ariat–Chimayó Weaving Apprenticeship with Centinela, Trujillos, and Ortega’s weaving galleries in Chimayó.

The program launched in 2024 with a month-long Summer Fiber Arts Camp that ran from 10am-4pm Monday through Thursday and featured weaving on floor looms, natural dyeing, screenprinting, knitting and spinning. It served seventeen campers and provided two teaching internships to local college-aged students. 

Early this year, we launched our 15‑hour Rigid Heddle Teacher Training with one youth instructor and nine public school teachers from six districts. Currently there are forty-six looms in classrooms, using weaving as a supplemental activity to existing curricula.

Summer Camp celebrated a successful second year, demonstrating measurable growth and community impact. We delivered three structured classes weekly to twenty-two campers and dedicated time for unstructured play and creative exploration.

The genuine enthusiasm we witnessed was reflected in nine returning campers and a waiting list of fifteen youth eager to participate. We concluded the two-week camp with a showcase for campers and their families, highlighting the artwork made during camp.

If funding allows, we plan to return to a four-week camp in 2026 and add an outdoor component.

This fall, our youth instructor began weekly classes in Peñasco with sixty-four students in grades 5–12 — covering frame loom weaving, rigid heddle weaving, and felting. This is a pilot program for the development of an 8–12 week enrichment program that will be ready to be offered to schools and after‑school programs next year.

Fiber arts education nurtures the whole child: it builds creativity and patience; strengthens fine motor skills and brain connectivity for focus, memory, and problem‑solving; and supports emotional well‑being through calming, rhythmic processes, boosting confidence as learners complete meaningful work.

Fiber holds a special place in the cultural life of northern New Mexico. Rather than directly teaching heritage crafts such as Chimayó weaving, we’re equipping young adults with craft discipline, practical skills, and some local knowledge that open pathways to apprenticeships and employment with artisans sustaining these traditions—helping to carry them forward.

With an annual need of $25,000, and $15,000 already awarded by the Santa Fe Community Foundation, your donation directly funds free youth fiber arts education and sustains our rigid heddle weaving offering.

The program’s $25,000 funding need is paired with essential in-kind support: Board Member Mark Bond donates his time and expertise to build each loom, and our community provides a steady stream of donated materials. Youth Fiber Studio thrives as a true community effort, bringing us together through a shared love of fiber arts and the beauty they inspire in our lives.

Join us in keeping this community-run program thriving with a financial gift. Every dollar goes toward program development and management, instruction, showcases, and materials — connecting young people to the craft and community of fiber arts so they can can build skills, find, and create pathways into our region’s living fiber traditions.

Today only, gifts receive a 1% match on our fundraising platform. Every amount makes a difference—please consider giving today. We’re grateful for your support.