On vacation down the Cape, but still weaving!
About Kristin Kelley-Muñoz
A Massachusetts native, and granddaughter to mill-girl weavers on both sides of the family, I have been a handweaver for over twenty years. Until 2020, I sold my finely woven household textiles and wearable items at high-end craft shows and museum gift shops in the New England area (Paradise City shows in Northampton and Marlborough, the deCordova Museum shop, Fruitlands Museum, etc.), published original designs in Handwoven Magazine, and taught theory-level classes at area weaving guilds.
With the pandemic, however, came change - as for a lot of us! Shows were canceled during 2020 and everything slowed down - including my weaving practice. I took the time that normally would have been spent on preparing inventory for shows and shops to start to learn how to weave tapestry. I found that I love the challenging artistic nature of weaving tapestry. It allows a handweaver to explore visual art but still retains the deeply satisfying tactile nature of fiber art.
In September 2023, I completed the 18-month Foundation in Tapestry program at the West Dean College of Arts and Conservation in West Sussex, UK, learning more about tapestry weaving in one of the few remaining professional tapestry studios.
I have a studio at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts (Studio 575, on the 5th floor). I do not generally open my studio for Open Studios, but lots of artists there do! On the first Saturday of each month, from noon-5pm, the entire building, which houses in the neighborhood of 300 working artists, is open for you to wander through. There’s a gallery on the first floor, an excellent micro-brewery in the basement, and often a food truck as well. It is definitely worth stopping by!
To see what I am currently up to, Instagram is the best place to find me: