4-Day Visiting Artist Workshop: Tapestry & Painted Warp with Thương Hoài Trần

Weaving & Painted Warp Workshop with Thương Hoài Trần

A 4-Day Intensive

Join fiber artist Thương Hoài Trần for an immersive four-day workshop exploring the intersection of color, structure, and textile craft. This hands-on intensive is designed to welcome weavers of all experience levels — from curious beginners to practicing artists looking to deepen their practice.

Building Your Own Loom

One of the most empowering aspects of this workshop is learning that you don’t need expensive or specialized equipment to begin weaving. Participants will learn how to construct their own functional tapestry loom from readily available, everyday materials. Thương will guide you through the process step by step, demystifying the tools of the trade and making the craft genuinely accessible — because weaving should never be gatekept by gear.

Painted Warp Techniques

At the heart of this workshop is the art of the painted warp — a technique in which yarn is dyed before it is woven, creating unpredictable, painterly color gradations that emerge organically through the weaving process. Participants will learn to dye their own warp using a cold water process dye method, exploring color mixing, resist techniques, and how intentional (or intuitive) dye placement translates into finished cloth.

What You’ll Take Away

By the end of the four days, participants will have:

• • A functional, handmade tapestry loom built from accessible materials
  • A dyed warp of their own creation
  • A foundational understanding of cold water fiber reactive dyeing
  • Hands-on experience with core tapestry weaving techniques
  • Confidence to continue exploring both dyeing and weaving independently

Who This Workshop Is For

This workshop is intentionally designed to be accessible — in philosophy, materials, and approach. Whether you’ve never touched a loom or are returning to a practice you want to expand, Thương’s teaching style meets you where you are. No prior experience is required, only curiosity and a willingness to get your hands colorful.

Thương Hoài Trần has an exhibition at the museum concurrent with her  workshop. Admission to her exhibition is free every day of the week.  Free admission generously supported by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access  for All program; the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives  funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the  Arts; the Arts Partnership, with support from the Cities of Fargo,  Moorhead and West Fargo; the McKnight Foundation; the Vilcek Foundation;  The FUNd at Plains Art Museum; Giving Hearts Day donors; Spring Gala  sponsors; and hundreds of Plains Art Museum members like you.

Biography:

Thương Hoài Trần (she/they) is a Vietnamese American immigrant whose background informs and influences their interdisciplinary art practice. Often using family photographs as a way to pay homage to their familial and ancestral history. Art-making processes help them to reconcile the gaps and barriers experienced by those in diasporic communities: displacement, loss of language, and generational disconnect.

Hoài Trần holds a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Emporia State University, and an MFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago. They have been a recipient of the Chicago DCASE Individual Artists Program (IAP) and a fellowship recipient of the Residency Program at The Studios at MASS MoCA. Their work has been showcased at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, The Center for Craft, and Janet Turner Print Museum to name a few.