Camp Verde-based textile artist Nancy Wilson visited Michelle Johnson’s third-grade classroom at West Sedona School on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 17, to complete a series of lessons on Navajo rug weaving as part of the city of Sedona’s Artist in the Classroom program.
“This is the third time I’ve been here,” Wilson said. “Last Wednesday I brought in a few Navajo rugs so I could show them to the kids, and I brought in some raw wool so that I could show them the process, because I also spin. Then I showed them how to card it with hand carders and then I brought in my Navajo hip spindle and I spun, and so we had talked about the culture and how important weaving is. Then last Thursday, we dyed yarn and started on our weaving. I had the looms already warped up and ready to go.”
The Artist in the Classroom program is sponsored by the city of Sedona to facilitate arts instruction at city schools in collaboration with local artists.
“[Wilson’s] education background is in textiles and clothing,” her Artist in the Classroom biography stated. “She got involved in spinning and other fiber arts after acquiring llamas for back country pack use. She has received her Master Spinner certification from Olds College in Canada. Nancy has been an instructor at the Arizona Fiber Arts Retreat, Flag Wool and Fiber Festival and local yarn shops. She is a member of the Mountain Spinners and Weavers Guild in Prescott and the Verde Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild.”
Wilson explained each step of the weaving process, including how she shears her 13 llamas and lone alpaca and dyes the wool with either plant-based dyes or substances commonly found in the kitchen. “This yarn was dyed with avocado,” student Anthony Araziza Hernandez pointed out, then proceeded to take a quick sniff of the fabric. “It also still kind of smells like avocado.”
Several of the students selected the colors for the projects to help tell a story.
“I’m choosing the colors because I’m in karate, and I’m [weaving] the belt order,” George Luntraru said. “Right now I have an orange [belt]; this is yellow. This is a white. This is tan. Now this is yellow. And next is orange and the next belt I get is green. I’ve been in karate for five years.”
“[With] weaving, you can demonstrate … and you don’t have to speak the same language [because] art is its own language,” Wilson said. “I try and be encouraging to all the students and they’re all beautiful things in their own way. Some of them are saying, ‘I don’t know if my mom will like this,’ and [I replied] ‘Your mom will love it, because you made it.’ Just trying to be encouraging to the kids crosses language borders.”
Wilson said one of her goals for the students is to have them walk out of the classroom with an appreciation ofwhat’s involved in making objects with their own hands and efforts, and hoped the experience will stimulate them to try new things, regardless of whether that might be fiber art or something else.
“I always enjoy working with the students,” Wilson said. “I go to West Sedona School and as soon as I get there, I’ve got a smile on my face … I think they enjoy having me there. I enjoy being there. It’s a great way to [help] across generations. I’m a baby boomer so I’m just hitting my retirement now and they’re young kids, so I could be like their grandmother. So it’s good to have those intergenerational experiences for them.”
