Welcome to the TextileX resource guide—a growing effort created to map out and connect the vibrant textile community and resources in the Portland metro area and beyond. The foundation of this guide was built from the diversity of organizations that participate in the Portland TextileX Month festival every October.
Development of and funding for this guide have been provided by Textile Hive with additional funding from a RACC catalyst grant in 2019.
We encourage you to contribute additional resources through this form and consider becoming a member of TextileX to help further develop this resource guide as well as Portland TextileX Month.
Studios
Grace Wesson
Grace was born and raised in California, and studied agriculture at Texas A&M University. Afterward, she worked in biomedical science research, specifically in the field of reproductive biology. Her passion for learning led her to explore the world of fine art. She worked for a fine art gallery for a year, and during this time, showcased her oil paintings in local exhibitions. Her art practice explores Western, Americana, and pop culture themes. In addition to her love of painting, she enjoyed creating and teaching children's textile art curriculum. Recently, Grace moved across the country from East Texas to Oregon, where she works for Oregon State University Extension Service and assists TextileHive with collections and online projects. Grace loves working with textiles because of the stories, heritage, and craftsmanship interwoven into each piece.
Studios
Jenny Wilde
Jenny Wilde is an artist, writer, and herbalist currently living in Portland, OR. She has a BFA in Sculpture from California College of the Arts (2010) and an MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art (2022). She uses a plurality of mediums such as writing, painting, film, and embroidery to explore from multiple vantage points the nature of memory, absence, and dislocation, and the stories we tell to fill in the gaps; she currently hosts an online Death Cafe. Her work has been shown in the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, OR.
Studios
Liz Borowski
Liz Borowski is an artist living and working in Portland, Oregon. With a BFA from the University of Arizona, her work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the Pacific Northwest. She has taught felting classes at Naked Sheep & Twisted yarn stores. Teaching beginning watercolor classes in her home studio in NE Portland, Liz says her creative process is akin to a magical practice - "When I paint, I get out of the way and let the work flow through me. The alchemy of mark-making and mapping generates a search for meaning, a tool for learning, and a way to find my place in the world. Each painting is made of layers of watercolor, gouache and wax pastels. The final step to my paintings is stitching embroidery thread. I find the application of mending the painting to be healing, and a reflective process that speaks to a time-honored hand arts tradition.”
Studios
Megita Denton
Intermedia artist that deeply intertwines my agricultural/land-based background. My focus is sustainability in ecological systems by utilizing all practices of – film at https://vimeo.com/megdenton, contemporary furniture, paintings, sculptures, sound, textiles, print media, welding, performance art, design, resilient landscapes, woodworking, murals with Art Seed PDX, photography, site specific public works, Nature based forms called ‘bio-anchors’ and often large formats to fit my big moods of passion. A true multidisciplinary artist.
Exploratory endeavors of environment, collaborations, and expressing interconnectedness fuels my work and relation to others, the natural and spiritual arenas- in pursuit of positive change and consciousness. I am building on the elevation of my Indigenous cultural perspective and using detritus to evoke a powerful sense of nostalgia that emits joy, contemplation, connection, and inspiration.
With a bedded foundation in the PNW soil from artistic, agricultural, and culinary roots - I have been circling with vibrations from these and filtering them through my lens. Land is the mesa from which I push and pull my art from. So, sit down at the table with me and let’s move art together…
Studios
Stashia Cabral
Stashia Cabral is a visual and performance artist from Portland, Oregon. She works in movement and visual media such as installation, sculpture, and painting, she has a passion for ready made and assemblages. Her performance pieces range from burlesque to belly dance, to butoh and more and feature beautifully handmade costumes and props. Quirks and oddities are her happy place. Stashia has shown work at galleries and cafes locally, and performed at venues ranging from cafes and theaters to big stages, like the Northwest World Reggae Festival. Stashia received her MFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art.