Ontario Handweavers & Spinners

The Ontario Handweavers & Spinners (OHS) is a non-profit organization based in Ontario, Canada that helps individuals interested in the fiber crafts to communicate and develop their skills, including weaving, spinning and dying, basket makers, braiders, tablet weavers and paper makers. The OHS communicates to its members through a quarterly newsletter, Fibre Focus, provides educational programs in spinning and weaving, provides scholarships and organizes several seminars or conferences each year.^[1]

The organization was founded in 1956^[2] at a time when there was increasing interest in reviving traditional craft skills.^[3] By 1998 the organization had grown to over 1,000 members, in over 70 guilds within six autonomous regions in Ontario.^[4] The OHS is affiliated with the Ontario Crafts Council.^[5] Many individuals prominent in the fiber arts have graduated from OHS courses or have been associated with the OHS over the years.^[6]

Associated Guilds

Many local handweaving and spinning guilds in Ontario are members of the OHS, including

• Sudbury and District Weavers and Spinners Guild,
• Oxford Weavers and Spinners,
• Leamington District Weavers Guild,
• Mississauga Handweavers and Spinners Guild,
• Pottawatomi Guild of Spinners and Weavers of Grey and Bruce Counties,
• Cambridge Spinners and Weavers,
• Kitchener Waterloo Weavers' & Spinners' Guild,
• London District Weavers and Spinners,
• Sarnia HandWeavers and Spinners,
• Kingston Handloom weavers and Spinners Guild,
• Burlington Weavers and Spinners,
• Ottawa Valley Weavers' and Spinners' Guild,
• Etobicoke Handweavers and Spinners,
• Toronto Guild,
• Heritage Weavers and Spinner's Guild,
• Guelph Handweavers and Spinners,
• Thunder Bay Weavers Guild,
• Kingcrafts,
• Peterborough Handweavers and Spinners,
• Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild,
• Strathroy Pioneer Treadlers Spinners and Weavers,
• Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners Guild,
• Great Pine Ridge Spinners
• Haliburton County Handweavers.

References

1. ^ *"Ontario Handweavers & Spinners website" OHS. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
2. ^ Norris, Compiled by J.A. (1979), The Book of giving : a history of the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners 1956-1979, Toronto, Ont.: Ontario Handweavers and Spinners, ISBN 9780969013709 
3. ^ Alfoldy, Sandra (2005), Crafting Identity : the development of professional fine craft in Canada (p51), Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, ISBN 9780773528604 
4. ^ Crawford, Gail (1998), A fine line : studio crafts in Ontario from 1930 to the present, Toronto: Dundurn Press, ISBN 9781550023039 
5. ^ "OCC Affiliate Organizations" Ontario Crafts Council. Retrieved 28 January 2009,
6. ^ Helen Bradfield, Joan Pringle; Brian J. Thompson, Photographer (1992), Art of the spirit : contemporary Canadian fabric art (p71), Toronto: Dundurn Press, ISBN 9781550021523