Guild Development Retreat
HGA's Guild Development Retreat is a one-day virtual learning experience to educate, motivate, and inspire fiber art guilds. Through panels and discussions, we hope to strengthen guild leadership, unite organizations, and provide a platform for the sharing of ideas. We want participants to end the day feeling motivated in their effort to build and grow their guilds so that all guilds can thrive.
Save the Date: 2026 Guild Development Retreat: Saturday, January 31, 2026
Registration
Local and regional guilds who hold an active Guild membership with HGA can register up to 4 (four) attendees for free. All other active HGA members may register for $25 per attendee. Registration for those who do not hold an HGA membership is $50. Your registration fees help to cover staffing and technology expenses associated with producing this program.
2025 Schedule
January 25, 2025, 11:00 AM ET - 7:00 PM ET
Schedule is subject to change
Resources:
Guild Study Groups are an informal way to share knowledge and explore with those who share a similar level of enthusiasm for a fiber art topic or special interest. They are also a great way to stay connected with guildmates in between workshops and meetings. Our panelists will share how study groups have helped their guild to grow their membership and foster community along with best practices for maintaining participation.
Panelists:
Cathy Barnes is retired from teaching math and statistics at the University of Oregon. Throughout her 30-year career she took advantage of opportunities to learn from UO fiber arts faculty including Suzie Liles and Barbara Pickett. Today she serves as Study Group Coordinator for the Eugene Weavers’ Guild, and as the leader for their Weave Structures Study Group.
Anita Sama of Chevy Chase, Md, has been involved with textiles most of her life. Embroidery, sewing and crochet were her first fiber languages, taught in childhood by her Italian grandmother, followed by knitting in college and grad school. The deliberate, meditative nature of many fiber arts became a welcome counterpoint to the frenetic pace of her daily journalism career. But it was her long-held fascination with heirloom fiber arts techniques, like spinning and weaving, and her stepping away from full-time journalism, that led her to membership in the Washington, D.C.-area Potomac Fiber Arts Guild. In 2021, she was asked to take on the post of Study Group Coordinator, as the guild emerged from the pandemic, incorporating virtual gatherings into the already vibrant guild tradition of assembling in smaller groups to explore specific fiber arts. In this role, she attempts to act as an informational hub from and among the individual groups. Today, PFAG has 16 study groups, ranging from Basketry to Wearables.
Sara White has been weaving for about eleven years after retiring from a mixed career in movement education and College Administration. She joined the Weavers’ Guild of Boston at the start of her weaving life and participated in many of their educational offerings. Sara joined the Annual Sale Committee, eventually leading the charge as Chair. Her next adventure in volunteering at the guild was the Morning Workshop Committee, again moving up the ranks to Chair, during which she launched the Guild’s Study Group (SG) initiative. Currently, Sara is the Coordinator of the SGs and has been involved for 4 years. She attained her Apprenticeship rating in 2019.1:00 PM - 1:45 PM ET: Discussion Rooms
What types of coverage does a guild need? What is the difference between D&O Insurance and Business Insurance? How should exhibits be insured? In this panel, we will discuss why guilds should have liability insurance, the different types of insurance your guild might consider, and what to look for in a policy.
Panelists:
Melissa Dalske is the dynamic Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Nonprofits Insurance Alliance (NIA), where she expertly guides the Member and Broker Services team. Boasting an impressive 20-year tenure in the insurance industry, Melissa has ascended through various pivotal roles, showcasing her leadership prowess at notable national insurance brokerages that included Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Partners Specialty Group, and Lamb Insurance Services.
Gwynn Jones has had an extensive career in Risk Management and Insurance, having worked for a major international broker, a national insurance company, and now with the subsidiary of the New York Council of Nonprofits- Council Services Plus, Inc. Gwynn Jones's exclusive focus is on the enterprise risk management as well as insurance coverage needs and requirements for nonprofit organizations of all sizes and missions. He has the breadth of knowledge to assist in areas of Directors & Officers, General Liability, Professional Liability, Property, Health, and Employee Benefits for nonprofit clients. Gwynn holds insurance licenses in several states, and has attained the designations of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Risk Management, and Associate in Claims from the Insurance Institute of America.
Colleen Lazanich is the CEO of CalNonprofits Insurance Services, the subsidiary of CalNonprofits. CalNonprofits Insurance Services is a full service insurance broker that supports California nonprofits by helping them obtain the best insurance coverage and pricing available. She has over 30 years of experience crafting insurance programs for nonprofits, she is an insurance geek and actually enjoys reading insurance policies and forms. Colleen holds Certified Insurance Counselor and Certified Risk Manager certifications from The Risk & Insurance Education Alliance. She is also a fiber enthusiast and avid knitter.2:45 PM - 3:30 PM ET: Discussion Rooms
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM ET: Hybrid Meetings: How a Pandemic Impacted Guild Operations, sponsored by Gigi Matthews
The pandemic brought us Zoom and virtual gatherings. To stay connected guilds learned new technologies that allowed them to grow their geographic reach. Now that the pandemic is over, what is the status of hybrid meetings? Our panelists will discuss the challenges and successes their guilds have encountered in transitioning out of the pandemic.
Panelists:
Award winning weaver Berna Lowenstein has been knitting since the age of 5. She discovered spinning, weaving, and kumihimo 35 years ago, and recently took up sprang. She teaches workshops and study groups on many weave structures and sprang, and she is the Zoom person for Weavers of Orlando.
Fazia Rizvi currently serves as the Vice President and Program Chair for the Weavers & Spinners Society of Austin. She is also an actor, appearing in shorts and independent films, and a web developer with more than thirty years experience in IT in higher education. Her multicultural family background (Finland, India, Pakistan) and B.A. in anthropology is what inspires her weaving and spinning craft as well as an obsession with vanishing tools and techniques.
Simone Mortan is the current president of the Carmel Crafts Guild. She started her fiber arts journey in the 1970's first with dyes, then spinning, and finally weaving. Above all she enjoys the community that the weaving world and the guild has created for her.4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ET: Discussion Rooms
5:15 PM - 6:15 PM ET: The Art of Hosting Workshops: Tips & Best Practices for Success
Successful workshops provide opportunities for fiber artists to learn new skills, support the fiber art community through teaching opportunities for professional artists, and fund future guild activities with workshop profits. We’ll discuss the best practices for hosting a successful workshop from securing the teaching artist to filling seats.
Lynne Fitzsimmons is the current Secretary and previous Workshop Chair of the Portland Handweavers Guild. She’s always been doing something fiber-related, and started weaving in 2016. She enjoys participating in her Guild’s study groups, as well as teaching beginning weaving at the Ruth Dabritz Legacy Weaving Project and Ruthie’s Weaving Studio.
Mary Zicafoose’s fiber journey began with ikat cloth she received as a gift as a child. Her undergraduate degree was from St Mary’s College and graduate work at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and University of Nebraska. In pursuing a more painterly approach to fiber she was drawn to ikat technique which took her on her 30 year journey. She is the co-director emeritus of the American Tapestry Alliance and the author of Ikat: The Essential Guide to Weaving Resist-Dyed Cloth.6:15 PM - 7:00 PM ET: Discussion Rooms
Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsors
Panel Discussion Sponsor: Gigi Matthews
Guild Sponsor: Weavers Guild of the North Shore
Vendors
These vendors are showcasing their businesses and the work of their organization. Please make time to review their pages and let them know you saw them at HGA's Guild Development Retreat. Their participation has made this retreat possible.
Click here to advertise your organization or business. Advertising Rates are $25 for HGA Professional Members and $50 for Non-Members.
Vendors to be announced.
Please Note: This listing is paid for by the advertiser and is not an endorsement of any individual or organization listed. The information was provided by the organization or its representative. HGA does not warrant the accuracy or validity of the information, and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions.
Sponsorships
With more than 175 affiliate memberships, we anticipate more than 680 fiber enthusiasts will attend HGA’s Guild Development Retreat either in real time or by viewing recordings.
All Guild Development Retreat Sponsors will receive the following recognition in addition to the items listed in the packages:
- Name recognition on HGA’s webpage as Sponsor and logo and link to your website
- Logo and name recognition in approximately *4,000 copies of Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot magazine
- E-Blast sent to HGA’s mailing list of approximately 10,000 promoting your sponsorship
- Post recognizing your sponsorship on HGA’s Facebook page (11,000+ followers)
- Post recognizing your sponsorship on HGA’s Instagram account (6,000+ followers)
- Continued publicity for 90 days after the week is over through recorded viewings of each event
*Listing in Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot and its estimated reach to readers will be based on the date of the signed agreement.
Late sponsorships may have less impact in reaching audiences.