July 20-25, 2012
Maria Shell
and Mark Vail
This five-day workshop will lead participants through a series of place-based visual exercises inspired by the Wrangell Mountains and McCarthy landscape. Students will select a theme to explore in four small fiber art pieces. Each piece will focus on a different technique: art applique, Shiva Paintsticks, free form piercing, and thread play. In addition to learning new surface design techniques, the workshop will address the creative process. Participants will work with an inspirational journal and other introduced approaches that will assist in translating ideas to cloth. The workshop will culminate with each artist presenting work to the group. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome.
Instructor
Maria Shell earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction before becoming a full time visual artist. Her art quilts and threadwork have earned national and international recognition. Recent honors include a Viewer’s Choice Award at the 2010 Form, Not Function: Quilt at the Carnegie in New Albany, Indiana and Best of Show at the 2010 All Alaska Juried Art Exhibition XXXIII at the Anchorage Museum. Her work will be exhibited in ArtQuilt Elements 2012 as part of FiberPhiladelphia, an international biennial and regional festival for innovative fiber/textile art. Maria received a Rasmuson Emerging Artist Fellowship in 2009 and was recently awarded a grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation to establish a personal off-the-grid quilting studio in McCarthy. Her work has been published in 500 Art Quilts: An Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work, Lark Books 2010, and can be seen at www.mariashell.com.
Participants should plan to arrive in McCarthy in time to get settled and enjoy dinner at 6pm on Friday, July 20th. The workshop ends with a presentation of work following dinner on July 25th. A detailed schedule will be provided with the welcome packet upon registration.
Meals and Accommodations 
All meals will be provided and shared communally. Every effort will be made to accommodate dietary needs and restrictions with advance notice. Primitive camping isavailable at no cost to workshop participants. The private site is located just a short walk away from the Old Hardware Store (WMC headquarters). Those who camp are welcome to store gear and food, borrow bear barrels, and use our rustic shower and other facilities at the Hardware Store. WMC staff will direct you to the campsite and orient you there upon your arrival.
Other lodging options within McCarthy include the full service McCarthy Lodge andLancaster's Backpacker Hotel, located just down the street. The Kennicott River Lodge and Hostel is another great option outside of town; it's a short bicycle ride or twenty minute walk each way. If you bring a vehicle with you, Currant Ridge Cabins is located on the McCarthy Road about three miles from the road's end; it's about a half mile walk between the parking area there and the Old Hardware Store. Free shuttles run between the river and McCarthy on a rotation with limited hours. If you bring a camper in or would otherwise like to camp out with your vehicle, there are two commercial campgrounds near the end of the McCarthy Road that will accomodate you without advance reservations.
Register
To register for this workshop, please mail in a completed registration form (.DOC or .PDF) with a $75 deposit. Balance is due 30 days prior to the workshop start date. Instructions for payment are included in the form. If you have questions, email jeremy@wrangells.org or call (907) 244-7717.
Cost
$495/person if you register by May 1, 2012; $525/person after May 1st. Current WMC Members receive a 10% discount (not applicable to the early bird discount). The workshop price includes meals and optional primitive camping and food storage facilities. Partial workshop scholarships are available.
