Culture
New Dairy Barn Fiber Studio Welcomes Beginners and Pros Alike
By: Emily Votaw
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The Dairy Barn Arts Center has been servicing Southeast Ohio for years, providing a haven for both fiber and, more recently, ceramic art.
In mid-October, the Dairy Barn announced the finalization of their Harriot Jacoby Anderson Fiber Arts Studio, a part of their extensive remodeling that has unfolded over the past couple of years. Although the Dairy Barn has been providing a place for various fiber arts classes for years, this space is completely specialized for that purpose: complete with brand new, user-friendly sewing machines and oodles of other tools for sewing, quilting, and more.
“Honestly, the other space that we used to use to teach in the Dairy Barn was just too big,” said Barbara Ery, a longtime art teacher and instructor for The Dairy Barn. In January, Ery will teach a silk scarf dying class in the new instructional space. “The new studio is very comfortable, and it is very much catered towards working with fibers.”
Ann Judy, the manager of the new studio, has been busy setting up classes and open studio times for the new space.
“On a lot of Thursday nights, the studio is completely open and free to use for the public, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.,” said Judy. “People need to know that they don’t have to pay anything to come, they don’t have to be a member, or anything. We always have artists on site, too, and I’m usually there, so there are people to answer just about any question you might have about fiber arts. It’s very much a sort of drop in learn type of experience.”
Mary Roediger, a professional coutière with decades of experience as a fiber artist, is one of the many impressive artists that the Dairy Barn is working with the facilitate upcoming workshops and open houses in the new fiber arts studio space.
“With the advent of the studio, and the fact that I have a lot of experience with fiber art, some one I knew recommended that I get in touch about getting onto the steering committee for the studio, but by the time I contacted them, they had already done so much, so I really got involved sort of halfway through. That evolved into my teaching there,” said Roediger. “I am very excited for some of the things we have coming up, but we really need people to know that these workshops and classes are happening, because if no one signs up, we can’t afford to put on the class. The studio is a really cool space, and they have a lot of great equipment in there for people to use, and I like it because honestly it leans more towards the artsy side of fiber art.”
Judy said that the among the strongest resources available for fiber artists in the new studio are their brand new fleet of Janome sewing machines.
“We have eight of those machines, and they are great machines for beginners through quilters,” said Judy. “They are very user-friendly. They have very simple instructions about what kinds of feet they should use for various projects.”
Judy said that the studio is also equipped with a number of looms, a rotary cutter, and much more.
“We really want to build a community of people who want to regularly use this studio as a resource,” said Judy. “We’re here for the people who would like to sew, but just don’t want to buy an expensive sewing machine or buy a loom or equipment like that. We have it all here.”
For more information on classes, and on open studio times, check out the Dairy Barn’s website.