April 2026

April Group Happenings

✨Saturday, April 11th - 12-3pm  Spinning Adventures! All spindles and fibers welcome!

✨Saturday, April 11th - 5-7pm SPECIAL PRESENTATION - Fiber as Resistance (see below for details!)

✨ Sunday, April 19th - 12-3pm Rigid Heddle Support Group. All little looms welcome!

✨ Sunday April 26th- 1pm-4pm The Crochet Club! Bring your yarn and hooks!

At EVFAC

FIBER AS RESISTANCE

Weaves threads between 50 years of Dineh resistance for Big Mountain liberation and the traditional lifeways that sustain it today. Discussion will be guided towards solidarity efforts of the past and the present to support continued resistance. 

Jake Stockwell has been directly supporting resisting families for over two decades and will be leading the discussion alongside guest speakers, supporters, and family members of the resisting families.

This event is a fundraiser to purchase wool, animal feed, and directly support traditional lifeways on Big Mountain.  A suggested donation is $20. All proceeds will go directly to Dineh wool producers of Big Mountain/Black Mesa, who are actively resisting relocation.

About Jake Stockwell:  

Jake started working with Big Mountain Dine'h elders in 2005 by herding sheep for months at a time. Jake grew up learning animal care and sustainable farming from his grandmother and parents in Maine. From an early age he was taught to challenge colonized narratives of race, class, history and patriotism, which often led him to join peoples movements against war and US imperialism. He has dedicated much of his adult life to directly supporting Big Mountain families in resistance to forced relocation and colonial resource extraction. Jake continues to lead supporters from across Turtle Island to assist with solidarity projects like firewood gathering, home repair, sheep shearing, and planting. May all indigenous peoples throughout the world be free and systems of oppression be destroyed.  

DETAILS ABOUT THE EVENT

Saturday April 11th, 5-7PM at EVFAC

Suggested donation $20

Join us for lamb stew promptly at 5:00 PM, prepared and served by Food Not Bombs Española. We’ll also have a vegetarian option, hot and cold beverages, and dessert.

We are grateful to share Navajo-Churro lamb raised just a few miles from Española by Bob Davis and Clarity Kijs.

Please RSVP below!

ABOUT THE BLACK MESA RESISTANCE

Weaving carries memory. At Big Mountain, Diné weavers show how land, culture, and tradition are inseparable: weaving is not only an art form, but a living connection to place, language, ceremony, and community.

This presentation looks at forced relocation as cultural genocide, because when families are removed from their homelands the loss is not only physical. Diné culture and religion are rooted in the land itself, and Big Mountain is central to that relationship. Even amid land and resource exploitation driven by extractive colonial systems, families continue traditional lifeways through the art of weaving and by raising Navajo Churro sheep. Protecting land is protecting culture.

The following video excerpt from Bitter Water (Malcolm Benally) documents Diné resistance to forced relocation from the Black Mesa / Big Mountain area following the the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 that caused the Navajo-Hopi land dispute. Enacted on December 22, 1974, it forced the partition of 1.8 million acres of jointly used land in Arizona and mandated the relocation of thousands of Navajo people living on land assigned to the Hopi Tribe.

Watch Bitter Water excerpt here

Bitter Water is built around filmed oral histories and personal testimony, centering Diné women elders who describe what it means to remain on and care for their homelands as their communities and lifeways are reshaped by partition, relocation pressure, and outside governance. The clips connect these experiences to the ongoing impacts of mineral extraction and “development” in the Black Mesa region, and emphasizes the inseparability of land, sheep, family, and Diné cultural and spiritual life.

You can purchase roving from Big Mountain on our website and learn more about the resistance to relocation.

Diné sheep herders receive 100% of proceeds from sales. 

Upcoming Classes

Here’s what we’ve got coming up for classes in April! With spring in full swing, now is the perfect time to treat yourself to some creative time. If you’ve been on the fence, go ahead and sign up - several classes are just ONE student away from running, and your registration could make the difference!

Swatching for
Rigid Heddle Weavers
with Liz Gipson

Saturday, April 11th
 10:30am-4:30pm

Members: $160
 Non-Members: $190

Have you had an idea, headed to the loom, and then halfway through your brilliant idea you think, “oh this isn’t what I had in mind at all”…. Worry not! Liz Gipson is here to help you learn to create Swatches, and get to that Swatching allows you to get to that information fast.

Weavers will learn various ways to think about swatching, techniques for swatching on a frame loom, and weave at least one swatch in class. Advance your rigid heddle weaving skills and register today for this fun, in depth swatching workshop.

This class needs ONE MORE participant - sign up today and learn from Liz Gipson of Yarnworker - a go-to resource for rigid heddle weavers! Register today!

Navajo Weaving

with Lynda Teller-Pete

April 15th - 18th
 10:30am-5:00pm

Members: $500

Non-members: $560

This in-depth, four day, hands-on workshop teaches weaving in the “Diné Way”. This workshop is intended for students that seek cultural enrichment in an engaging format that expresses the art of Navajo weaving and shares the Navajo culture and textile history. Learn more and sign up here!

Warping a Navajo Loom

with Lynda Teller-Pete

April 19th
 10:30am-5:00pm

Members: $320

Non-members: $370

After the Navajo Weaving class, sign up for Warping a Navajo Loom and create your warp for your next Navajo weaving!

Students will learn how to warp a Pete made loom. Warps can be attached in class onto looms made by the Petes only. Looms made by the Petes will be provided during the class, and available for purchase, or can be brought in if previously purchased from the Petes.

Follow this link for more details about the class and to sign up!

Youth Fiber Studio

SUMMER CAMP 2026!!

Our schedule is set, and we’re planning four week-long sessions that will run Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Pre-registration will open Friday April 17th to everyone on our mailing list, and registration opens to everyone on May 1st.

Camp will wrap up with a showcase on Saturday, August 1st.

The full daily schedule and class descriptions will be released when registration opens on 4/17. Below is a week-by-week list of session dates and the classes offered during each week:

SESSION 1: June 15-19

RIGID HEDDLE WEAVING, SPINNING, DYEING & FRAME LOOM WEAVING

SESSION 2: June 22-26

RIGID HEDDLE WEAVING, SEWING, & MACRAME

SESSION 3: July 20-24

LOOR LOOM WEAVING, FLEECE PROCESSING & FELTING, & MACRAME

SESSION 4: July 27-31

FLOOR LOOM WEAVING, DYEING & SPINNING, SCREENPRINTING

SIGN UP for the Mailing List and register on April 17th! 

Make a Gift to Support Youth Creativity

The funding landscape has changed drastically, and each new season brings fresh uncertainty. While we’re grateful for the steady support we continue to receive from the Santa Fe Community Foundation for our youth program, we are finding ourselves piecing together the rest of the budget with each new step of growth. 

Our youth program is primarily free and serves mostly low-income local families - families for whom camps are often simply out of reach. Member support has been a major reason we’ve been able to keep the program growing, with this year’s summer camp marking the end of our third year. 

Your donation helps bridge the gap between the true cost of what we offer and what families can afford, alongside the many in-kind hours that make this work possible.

It also supports an important part of our mission: creating meaningful paid opportunities for local teaching artists. We’re committed to offering competitive, professional rates, and your support helps us do that while keeping youth programming accessible. Please click here to donate today! 

If you’d rather support the program with supplies, we’d love that too - please take a look at our wishlist for hands-on materials and tools that go straight into our studios and classrooms. One immediate need right now is replacing our printer, which is essential for camp handouts, , lesson materials, and day-to-day program logistics and EVFAC operations.

Purchasing an item from the list helps us stretch our budget further so we can offer more classes and programs throughout the year. Thank you! 

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Around Town

CALL FOR WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS

2026 Mountain and Valley Fiber Arts Festival

(43rd Year)

The Mountain and Valley Fiber Arts Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday October 3rd & 4th in Durango Colorado (approximately a 3.5-hour drive from Española).

Workshop proposals from experienced fiber arts instructors are now being accepted.

Workshops will be scheduled during:

• Thursday October 1st & Friday October 2nd (the two days prior to the Festival)

• Saturday and Sunday morning during the Festival. A great opportunity to teach and still have time to visit the Festival as well!

  Learn more and apply here!

Donate today!

As a 501(c)3 organization, EVFAC strives to balance professional, living-wage compensation for our teaching artists with affordable class prices, scholarships, and free youth programs that serve our local community. Through grants and crucial member-donor support, we maintain this vital balance. Your continued generosity makes our mission possible.