She/Her/Hers

Lauren is a weaver and art teacher currently based in Madison, Wisconsin. She holds a BA in Art History from Kenyon College and an MA in Teaching (Art Education) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to her formal training, she spent a year learning traditional weaving techniques from textile artist Laura Biagini in Florence, Italy.

As a textile artist, she is interested in the process of finding patterns, textures, and colors out in the world — woodbark and fallen leaves along the trail, worn masonry on the side of an old building, historical designs in the background of a renaissance painting — and translating these into weave structures and color schemes on the loom. These woven experiments have most recently been realized in the creation of a series of large-scale wall hangings, which were shown last spring at 80 Albion in San Francisco. In addition to woven artwork, Lauren is very much drawn to the useful potential of woven goods and enjoys creating home textiles that are meant for everyday life — making sets of napkins, tea towels, and blankets have been some of her favorite projects. Her work can be found on her website, www.lew-weave.com.

As an art teacher, she brings her passion for art-making and art history to developing engaging projects for students of all ages. In the classroom, she seeks to develop the unique interests and talents of each individual student rather than creating one-size-fits-all assignments. Creating a caring, compassionate, and safe classroom environment is at the heart of her practice as an art teacher, and she works hard to provide a space for students to experiment, explore, and learn about the world, themselves, and each other through art.